A million years ago I wrote about how bothered I was that people tend to always look at external things to judge people’s level of education, social standing, and other things. That it bothered me that I came from a certain ethnic standing because it gave me social standing that I’d rather not have.
Frankly, it’s something that comes up in my mind from time to time. More that I feel this massive need to help out those that aren’t in the same social networks, benefits, or situation that I am. For a while I volunteered a long time with Food Not Bombs in Calgary to try and help out people who just needed something to eat (yes some people don’t really like going to homeless shelters to get food cause they can feel a bit intimidated).
I wonder at times if people forget that a lot of ethnicities (refugees) end up taking on a lot of the jobs that help support the existing culture that we sustain each day. It’s the immigrants in Canada and even in Australia that are working the late shifts at gas stations, packing food on shelves, and cleaning stores when they shut. I appreciate that and at the same time feel a little disheartened because I know that some of these (many taxi drivers I’ve met and chatted with) actually have engineering degrees from foreign countries that they can’t seem to get recognized in Australia or Canada.
I guess for me it just enhances the fact that I realize there is a need for me to really continue to strive to break down those barriers between the class structure I was raised in and others. Try and find ways in which I can integrate myself with more of these people (and frankly I feel more connected with them to begin with because like Ecuador they seem to value things that are more important to me).
What brought all this home for me was watching the Chilean movie Machuca.
“In 1973, in Santiago of Chile of the first socialist president democratically elected in a Latin-American country, President Salvador Allende, the principal of the Saint Patrick School, Father McEnroe (Ernesto Malbran) makes a trial of integration between students of the upper and lower classes. The bourgeois boy Gonzalo Infante (Matías Quer) and the boy from the slum Pedro Machuca (Ariel Mateluna) become great friends, while the conflicts on the streets leads Chile to the bloody and repressive military coup of General Augusto Pinochet on 11 September 1973, changing definitely their lives, their relationship and their country.” – IMB
At about the half way point I was crying and from that point onward the movie really brought you closer to the reality of what can happen in social situations (not only from politics but also because of social class systems). It was a beautiful reminder that breaking down berries, helping out those that aren’t in the same situation as ours, and sharing what you’ve got is the only way that we can help to create a sustainable fair world. And I know I can do that!
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Thursday, November 22, 2007 at 2:35 am
Mike R
Judgment stinks (well, a lot of the time), and this article made me think of something completely unrelated (maybe). It may be small, but I think maybe it shows me a hint of what it feels like to show up somewhere and just not be recognized in a backwards sort of way. So I was parked downtown Calgary and while I was away a cement truck backed into my parked car (it’d been there all day, not like I just left it somewhere with the hazards on). The cowboy enterprise that is insurance and traffic law in Alberta has seen that over two months later, I am still driving around with a smashed up front end (my last headlight just kicked it).
My experience is this: now, no matter where I go, when I park, I see people staring at me in a disapproving sort of way. “Oh man, what did that punk kid hit?!?” It’s the front of the car right, so obviously I did something wrong! Same thing in traffic: people won’t let me in, stare at me at lights, etc. I’ve done nothing wrong, I want to wave the accident report at them and yell “See?! I wasn’t even around!! Gah!!” OK, so it’s not like waving a perfectly legit degree in my new country’s face, but it’s a bit of a kind of almost analogy that I think lets me see the point. You get me?
Sunday, November 25, 2007 at 13:58 pm
Shane Bill
Mike – I think that your analogy is a good one and it’s interesting that you experienced that and could relate what I’m portraying here to that. I think that when you step out of your own shoes and look around life becomes a lot more humbling.