How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains descriptions of domestic abuse and suggestions of anti-gay bias.

In exchange for attending 12 vocational skills training sessions and participating in job counseling, interview training, and application help, Cara Romero has received an extension of unemployment benefits. Her Dominican-descended caseworker, Lissette, offers the session transcriptions that follow as evidence of Cara Romero’s job readiness.

Cara Romero, age 56, attends her first Senior Workforce Program session after her employer, a lamp factory, outsourced jobs to Costa Rica. Instead of discussing her credentials and experience, Cara reveals intimate details about her life, beginning with her choice to leave the Dominican Republic at 26 because her husband planned to kill her after her affair with a man named Cristián. Her best friend, Lulú, encourages her to attend school even at her age. Lulú is the one who saved Cara from depression after her son, Fernando, ran away. They now share coffee in the morning and wine and telenovelas at night. They also email regularly. Cara also receives spam emails from a psychic hotline. Despite Lulú’s insistence the email is a scam, Cara believes in Alicia the Psychic, who emails predictions about Cara’s future even though Cara never sends her any money.