Be Advised About Interac: Part II

In 1996, I was living in Tokyo. I was a teacher/trainer for Interac. The day was April 28, and it was 6:00am. My phone rang, and tearful, sobbing voice came on the phone. It was my sister Terry. "I don't know how to tell you this....Dad's dead." I tried to calm her down and get more information. Apparently he'd been in a business meeting when he suddenly collapsed from a heart attack. He was rushed to the hospital, but he never regained consciousness. I told her that I'd be back home as soon as I could. I immediately called my boss and explained the situation. As anyone would be, I was in a state of shock. I felt a wave of pure numbness fall over me. To have your father pass away was one thing, but to be thousands of miles away when it happened was quite another. I never even got a chance to say goodbye, and as I recall, the last conversation I had with him was not the friendliest of conversations either.

The next day, I went into the office. My boss was surprised that I was there. She insisted that I go home, and not worry about training sessions or classes or anything having to do with Interac. I had to get some administrative things done (emergency salaryadvance, etc.) that was going to take a couple of days to get sorted out, so while I was waiting I asked her if I could please do a training class. I knew that if I were to go back to my apartment and just WAIT, I'd go crazy. I had to keep my mind on something...anything. She said ok, but that I was not to teach any classes that evening. While I was waiting, the manager pulled me aside and asked me how long I would be back home. At that point, I didn't know. I estimated about 2-3 weeks. He looked at me and said "Don't worry. Go home and do what you have to do. Just tell me when you want to return. This job will be waiting for you when you get back."

Eventually things got settled, and I went home. Things got a bit complicated after that. Not to go into a whole lot of detail on the subject, my Father wasn't the biggest financial wizard in the world and we ended up having to give up our 4-bedroom ranch house in Suburban Chicago. So, the 2-3 week trip starting looking like it was going to become longer. I called Interac from the USA, and I explained the situation to my boss. What looked like 2-3 weeks was probably going to be more like 6 weeks because I would have to move all our belongings into storage, pretty much by myself窶巴oth my brother and sister had commitments that they could not get out of. He said all right. If that changes please call me back.

The rest of the time went by and everything got moved. I returned to Japan. When I got back, true to his word, my job as trainer was waiting for me. Not a job as a teacher, but MY job as a trainer. A lot of things have been said about Interac, most of them bad. Though I don't deny anyone else's experiences, not everyone at Interac has a completely bad experience. I've been with Interac for 7 years now, and I've tried to be available for them. I've tried to be there when they needed me. I believe they supported me when I needed it because I supported them when THEY needed it. It's not that I'm blindly loyal to them, but it's because they were loyal to me. I had no right to keep the job as trainer after a 6 week absence, but there it was.

In the words of Paul Harvey, so now you know the rest of the story.

Yours Sincerely,

Dan Nakagawa