Theres a Pakistani guy who works at the coffeeshop downstairs from my previous residence block. I first encountered him when I was helping my boyfriend moved into his new apartment, about a year ago. He only spoke in Pashto with a mix of Urdu back then (I think). Hed primarily clean tables and take drink orders. He was brash and came across as rude and unlikeable. He spoke loudly, roughly. When I tried to order from him, hed respond in Urdu- and my Urdu is pretty bad but Im pretty sure he was cursing me (or his fate). Hed then avoid me altogether. Which, you know, kinda sucks for me as a patron. But I didnt want to make a big deal about it. #justminorityproblems Yesterday though, he cheerfully came over and took orders from me and my brother. He was friendly. We ordered a milo and a bandung, and when it turns out that the bandung was a can and my brother wanted to switch to a milo too, he happily obliged with none of the frustration and confusion I got from him a year earlier. It was a pleasant interaction and we thanked him gratefully. This morning I went down to buy breakfast and he was making drinks. Im drinking his kopi as I write this. All of this gives me a lot of thoughts and feels. It was so easy to judge him and hate him, filthy stupid foreigner, learn the language, why are you here. But he was probably scared, confused, felt abused and ostracized in an unfamiliar country. A year later, hes a part of the ecosystem and Im glad to have him around. And its pretty cool to see him learn a language, develop new skills, take more responsibility... all the sort of things that we tell ourselves that WE ought to be doing, while we enjoy our relative position of privilege. Lately Ive been toying with the idea that its healthy, interesting and fun to think that were all here to teach each other something. A student can teach a teacher, a child can teach a parent, and a migrant Pakistani worker can teach this prickly Indian from the other side of the border Patience, tolerance, kindness. It makes for a more beautiful world. And delicious kopi.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 17:27:12 +0000
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