Wednesday, November 12, 2008
The New H.N.I.C.
Mr. Ani, a man from Africa, is my new boss. I just recieved this new job from a friend, who described the basic details of the job to me before I decided to pursue it. I am not going to name the job because I am ashamed of the job title, however I am not ashamed of my duties. Every morning I have a routine that I do at work. It never changes. But on Friday, Mr. Ani, wanted me to do something extra. He wanted me to clean the stairs of the building that I work in. Cleaning the stairs is not a problem for me, however he wanted me to get on my hands and knees to scrub the stairs with a washrag. I am unsure of how people in Africa clean things, but I use a broom and a mop; not a bucket and a washrag. Whats Wrong with Mr. Ani.
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This is a typical case I'm used to seeing, even here at Morgan State. Those from Africa for example, tend to carry their cultural habits and ideals with them into America. But what I've learned is that when someone from Africa comes into the U.S., they are disgusted and ashamed at how Americas deal with certain issues, handle specific situations, and more so, complain about everything.
They get so upset with the American standard, they impose what they were so used to onto you/us. It happens all the time. They're used to working so hard for every single thing they struggle to get their hands on, working for food, traveling for water, and let's not even get into the education aspect. That's a big one. In Africa, or some parts at least, the education is no where near as broad and accessible as it is here. Yet, there, everyone does what they can to learn. They exhaust the resources that they have to get the proper education that is needed. They do what they can with what they have.
Then...they come to America, specifically Baltimore for example, and witness one of the highest school drop out rates in the entire nation. Black kids....dropping out of school when the opportunities are not being exhausted or cared for . It's sickening. And quite frankly...they just don't get it. Now, this is just one example, but it applies in many areas. America is the freest country out there, so when anyone comes into America from the outside, they usually hate to see anyone complain about anything because no matter what, you have had it much better than they have. And that's their bottom line.
So they'll teach you to read and write 10 times more than you're used to in history class, or they'll make you pay the consequences for being late everyday to a free seminar for higher learning, or make you scrub the stairs with a bucket and a washrag. I don't agree with the mindset, but all I'm saying is I get where they're coming from.
There's nothing wrong with washing stairs with a washrag and a bucket really. It's all about the standards to which you were sent to do that particular task. The question is why were you asked to do it that way? In this case, the answer seems to be uncanny to me. It isn't right. It seems that someone asked you to do it that way because they had to do it that way sometime before where they're from. But that's just it, this isn't Africa or anywhere else. It's America. But I'm the manager at my job, and even I have gotten down on my hands and knees to do much dirtier work with a bucket and rag. But I did it because it needed to be done. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
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