[These pages concern interesting correspondence between our translators and project managers at KENAX, mostly concerning the famous Jade Dynasty translation project.]

Odd jobs can turn into big cash cows

Get this odd job: a police report for the Scottish police of email correspondence. Apparently there is an employment agency in Scotland that helps Czech, Slovaks and Poles etc. find work and accommodation in Glasgow. But one of its drivers decided to cut in on the action, put a classified ad in Czech and Slovakia offering work in the UK, perhaps used the agency’s website as a backdrop, and proceeded to utterly pilfer his own compatriots. The job seekers often borrowed money from their family, fly to Glasgow, he would pick them up at the airport, take them to a really shitty office (which obviously has been moving from one place to another), sign up a contract, after which they would give him one month’s rent plus deposit totaling 450 GBP. Then he would take them to a totally crap flat with rats, broken door so everyone from the street could walk in, shared with a bunch of Gypsies, many crammed into a single room, TV doesn’t work etc. etc. Quite contrary to the lovely, peachy website he advertised. He changes his name, email, company name, address and phone number occasionally. So I’m proofreading a lot of email correspondence by poor Czech folks who have been suckered into coming to England and now are SCREWED there, with no job and no means to get back home. Although it is only a proofread of someone else’s translation, which I don’t usually like to take, the correspondence includes a long information package in the footer. Pages of information about Glasgow, and what is required to get there. After I proofread one email, the next page is a description by the police stating who the next correspondence is between, followed by the next email. But each subsequent email I proofread includes the previous correspondence (including the long information package about Glasgow), which I had already proofread. Often the responses are very short, with the rest of the email a repeat of the previous correspondence, which I had already proofread. Therefore, with some fancy copy/paste work, one day I actually made a thousand bucks, followed by $400 the day before! I can only imagine how Scotland Yard is paying for this translation while none of the police administration gives a crap that practically everything repeats and is a colossal waste of money. Or perhaps they are just following strict detective procedure. I presume they are even going as far as printing it all out…

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