“Hello lovely customers please welcome to Divine Pizza and Ribs. We have a lot of food you want don’t forget come here!!!!! Thanks xxxxxx” – Hong
The above comment was written by my night shift Cashier/Supervisor, on the Divine Pizza & Ribs Facebook group. He is a young man of 27. The 6th child of 7; he has 2 brothers and 4 sisters. Unique is the best word to describe him. He still has both of his parents who are in their 60’s. They were farmers in the Prey Veng Province, which is probably why they survived the Khmer Rouge period, with their lives and their family still together. Prey Veng province is to the west and south of Phnom Penh.
Hong is the only child in his family to complete high school, and therefore shoulders the burden of being the main support for his aging parents. So the fact Divine offers health insurance, which can cover his parents because they are his dependents living in the same house, has helped him with this responsibility. His other siblings are factory workers, and he still has two sisters that live in Prey Veng and are farmers with their husbands.
He learned English the old fashion way, by being bold and courageous and just talking to people, making many mistakes and improving through the help of tourists and local expats. He has worked in other restaurants along the riverfront, but was seeking to move up and gain some supervisory skills, because his dream is to open his own store.
It has been my privilege to spend time with this young man, who always has a quick smile and a kind word. As we work together developing his skills, so that hopefully he will someday open that shop; he continues my education about all things Khmer. It is truly a mutually beneficial relationship.
It is certainly people like Hong that make this so rewarding.