Host Parents Passionate for Change
Hello! I was pleased to stumble upon your site. I had vowed to myself to contact Southwestern or begin some kind of awareness after our summer experience hosting 3 Estonian students. What we learned about the company and what the girls were put through over the course of the summer was atrocious. I have lots to say. Could I put together a short story and have it posted to your site? Your website is very effective and I believe this would be the best way for me to air my grievances toward the company and its dangers. Hopefully, this site will begin to pop up when unknowing students begin entertaining the idea of working for Southwestern.
-Beth Wyant
This past summer, we hosted three Estonian girls in our home for three months while they worked for Southwestern Book Co. These sweet, innocent and hard-working girls literally knocked on our door one evening asking if we could spare a room for them for the summer. I told them I would need to talk with my husband first. They went on to find other housing for a few weeks that apparently wasn't ideal. They came back later and I told them that we would be happy to have them. I felt it would be beneficial to them and also a great learning experience for my two daughters. This proved to be true and I don't regret having the girls. They were considerate, smart and extremely hard-working. We enjoyed getting to know them and learning about their culture. We think highly of all three girls.
It only took a few days to see that the Southwestern Book Co. had completely indoctrinated them with their scare-tactics and cult-like training. We quickly began to have sympathy for them and their situation. If we mentioned they take a short break or rest, they'd have curt, robotic replies such as, "That's what school is for in the fall". They would never let us see anything but positive energy and would never say they'd had a tough day even though many times it was apparent that things were really bad. While taking out their trash one day, I saw a sheet from their Sunday sales meeting. It implied you were a wimp and a bad salesperson if you didn't do things such as doing executive exercises enthusiastically in the morning and night, take only cold showers, jog from house to house, get up at 5:59 sharp, never take more than one break a day, say positive things between houses,etc...It was obvious that all but one of our girls were completely indoctrinated with these ideas. The other hated the work and mentally gave up towards the very end of the summer We could see that she was barely getting by. They had little money and ate peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We had one of the hottest summers ever and one of the girls came home a few times with what looked to me to be heat stroke. She couldn't relax and take it easy because she was afraid that her student manager (who had a car) might drive or stop by and see that she had come back to the house. The student manager often checked up on her and she didn't want to let her down or get her upset by not being out selling at all times. I began to make extra of our family dinners most nights and would try to be up to make sure the girls would eat something other than peanut butter. They loved that I did this and would devour whatever I put before them. They generally got only 5 hours of sleep or less a night to make up for the abuse their bodies received during the day. Sundays were supposed to be their day off, but they spent most of that day in the car driving two hours to Evansville and two back for their sales meetings. They would have to come back and go to the grocery store and do laundry and then collapse into the bed for their "big sleep". This is what Southwestern calls the Sunday night sleep that is supposed to make up for any lack of sleep you might be getting throughout the week. They started their day by leaving for their breakfast place at 6:30 and usually didn't come home again until 10:00 p.m. I believe this is even illegal to sell until those hours. I doubt the girls were aware of this and if they were, they were probably pressured to disregard the law. Also, many of the neighborhoods they sold in were drug-infested and very dangerous. We were always worried about their safety. Had there parents back in Estonia known what they were doing, I'm sure they would have been appalled. Also, they were told not to call home even though one of the girls was very homesick.
The girls without a car had to ask strangers to borrow a bike for the summer. I'm sure they were told that this was what would work best. One of them got her bike stolen. She dreaded telling the individual she borrowed the bike from and I still am not sure what transpired. Another time, one of the girls deposited a large check and waited several days for it to clear. Not knowing the American system, she didn't know that checks sometimes take 10-12 days to clear the bank. This one was "bad" and the bank didn't inform her of it in time. Before she found out, she had used her debit card approximately 15 times and each use charged her $36. Of course, she also had to go back and try to collect money from the customers again. I know she never got her money back from the customer. I went with her to the bank to try to establish sympathy for her plight and to see if she could get her money back. They were willing to take off only a few of the charges. Through all this, she put on a smile and told us her days were "great" and "fantastic". Meanwhile, her sister was withdrawing emotionally from the company and hated everything about America. Towards the middle to the end of the summer, I'd sometimes find her inside the front door on the floor seemingly withdrawn from the world. Whatever had happened to her in some of the homes, I can't imagine or fathom. She was probably treated so unkindly and pushed away to the point that she couldn't tackle another house for a time. During these times, I couldn't seem to help her. Finally, she'd regain her energy and drive and try to go back out for the night. All the while, she was so afraid of being caught having down time by her student manager who stayed with us also. We developed a very warm relationship with her and she truly hated the job. She told us that we were the only positive thing she'd found in America. We couldn't convice her that she was seeing America was often the worst-case scenarios.
We had bought books from an overly agressive American a few years before. I didn't have the heart to tell the girls we seldom used the books. I find that they are almost impossible to navigate and find what you are looking for. They are also made quite cheaply for the exorbitant price of the books. I'm also not sure if they were aware that you could buy the books cheaply on e-bay. We already had a very negative attitude towards the company because they sent us a very expensive book in the mail that we didn't order and then sent us big bill for it. We had to get very, very ugly with the company before they would leave us alone about the payment. I couldn't find the book because I hadn't ordered it and had put it up somewhere. We tried not to be negative to the girls about the company because they were already neck-deep in it and we wanted them to be successful.
At this point, I would like to find a way to ban the company from recruiting the European universities. I believe that if most of these universities had this kind of information about the company, they'd be hesitant to let them come in to recruit. This site is definitely a great start towards change. If negative press about the company continues, it is only a matter of time before the company either changes or closes it's doors altogether. I believe the company is abusive and mind-controlling. I believe they prey on the European students and their work ethic. To say the students are independent contractors therefore ridding themselves of any responsibility to their well-being and safety is atrocious and a crime. Thank you for the site and I pray that it will be effective in it's goal.
Received: November 7, 2007
