What do "Tea Boys" aspire to be???

Vegas
By Vegas

I mean are they "Tea Boys" for life???

By Vegas• 23 Jul 2009 16:31
Vegas

You can't teach experience...

By SAMAEL• 23 Jul 2009 16:13
Rating: 5/5
SAMAEL

M Tea Dude won't let me make my own tea... scared he will bust out some weird napali gurka ninja moves if i infiltrate his territory.

He makes an alright cup though. His English is Good, always well dressed, and he seems to take pride in what he does. Fair play to him

________________________________

By Happy Happy• 23 Jul 2009 16:12
Happy Happy

Thanks for pointing that out, it's annoying and degrading. I noted that before too, here:

http://www.qatarliving.com/node/513041#comment-912053

Salam

By diamond• 23 Jul 2009 16:08
Rating: 3/5
diamond

I abhor the term 'teaboy. These men are not boys. What's wrong with calling them 'waiters'?

-------------------------------------

By Happy Happy• 23 Jul 2009 15:47
Happy Happy

I know of one kitchen helper who wanted to master English language to be able to help his kids in studying. He scribbled English words on the kitchen walls, I even saw some of his writings on tissues, in fact he brought tears to my eyes when I learnt how determined he was to want to be in a better position. He always had a book in his hands.

He was that eager to learn, now he works for Fanar....:)

Salam

By Sympatico• 23 Jul 2009 15:38
Rating: 3/5
Sympatico

I've known lot of "Tea boyz" who aspires more....some of them were enrolled in driving school, taking some short courses like computer course....and most of them were only waiting for their contract to finish before considering another step...

One thing more...they knew what's going on in the office than you....

By anonymous• 23 Jul 2009 15:24
anonymous

no problem, happens all the time,,,,,,,ok time to go home now.....yalah johnpur..roh..roh..roh

By Happy Happy• 23 Jul 2009 15:22
Happy Happy

Sorry!

Salam

By Happy Happy• 23 Jul 2009 15:21
Happy Happy

Glad to know that, a man is a man with the same traits in any position or title.

Salam

By anonymous• 23 Jul 2009 15:19
anonymous

yeah happy, we have one tea boy before also, he became a messenger and now a document controller. still hasn't change his positive attitude..good thing

By Happy Happy• 23 Jul 2009 15:18
Rating: 3/5
Happy Happy

If our kitchen helpers (where I work) would be my seniors, they'd promote me immediately, we're best of friends now, I hope they'd still be as humble and nice to me as their subordinate..:))

Salam

By anonymous• 23 Jul 2009 14:59
anonymous

teaboys aspire to be your senior and when that happens, you'll spend your day at work like hell...lol

By Happy Happy• 23 Jul 2009 14:42
Rating: 4/5
Happy Happy

Some kitchen helpers wouldn't want to be anything more than what they are now, but they work additional jobs, in the same organization or outside to increase their income. Same applies to some drivers and house staff (cleaners, keeper...etc). Our kitchen helpers, where I work, serve as office clerics and drivers too.

Note: I salute all those who've mentioned they've been working in all sorts of jobs since early age.

Nice topic..)

Salam

By Gypsy• 23 Jul 2009 09:44
Gypsy

I can't beleive nobody has said "Tea Men"

By justice• 23 Jul 2009 09:33
Rating: 2/5
justice

the tea boy or a labourer out there working under the SUN no one deserve what he is paid but again the circumstances made him to come and do and get paid what he is getting.

The poverty back home make a person to do not only the job but many other things which won’t be accepted by the society where people have JUSTICE

I agree that all the labourers come here on a contract and before coming they do sign the contract because in their own country the system is so pathetic and injustice is which do not allow them to even get one TIME MEAL so to feed their families

So the advantage is taken from people who know that the needy is always bowing to accept

But my question is that IS IT JUSTICE no it is NOT

As we can see that some places on the same planet labourers are given their full rights

God does not do that but yes WE DO THAT TO OUR OWN PEOPLE

They should be paid more V R READY TO PAY SOME ONE WHO CAN DO A JOB WHICH WILL PAY US IN MILLIONS but not to some one who serves US

By tallg• 23 Jul 2009 09:02
Rating: 2/5
tallg

Eco - that's a bit of a generalisation. All the tea-boys I've worked with have good hygiene skills. Obviously your company doesn't consider hygiene to be an issue, otherwise they'd train them properly. Perhaps you should take it upon yourself to train them.

By edifis• 23 Jul 2009 00:23
Rating: 5/5
edifis

They start as

Cadet Tea Boys(trainee).....After 2 years experience

Subjunior tea boy

junior tea boy

Assistant Tea Boy

Deputy Tea Boy

Senior Tea Boy

Executive Tea Boy

Hony. Tea Boy (For Life)

I believe thats the highest level! If they have more ambition they have to change their field of work!

By verisimilitude• 22 Jul 2009 23:43
Rating: 5/5
verisimilitude

the term tea boy may have originated from India

But tea boys in India are different

They are more like tea delivery distributing the morning tea to an entire locality or building on their bicycles

not floor or office like here in the region

the way its practiced in Gulf and its wide spread prevalence is staggering

I guess its a hangover from the maids and driver system at home that the Khaleejis have...

By anonymous• 22 Jul 2009 22:42
Rating: 4/5
anonymous

hygiene is zero. I have witnessed their tea making process

and its yucky. they dont wash cups properly just one rinse

and spoons are kept in glass of water yuck

the most dirtiest water.

Pantry sinks are used for gargling too...... yucky

i have seen my Indian cousins gargle in sink whre

cups are kept.

Vegas maybe we should start campaign on facebook......make your own tea

By Vegas• 22 Jul 2009 22:30
Vegas

You can't teach experience...

By anonymous• 22 Jul 2009 20:58
anonymous

machines. Tall towers should have atleast three cafeterias/

coffee shops

btw I dont understand how does drinking tea/coffee

helps company's growth

By mallrat• 22 Jul 2009 20:40
Rating: 3/5
mallrat

.one day, theyl become President.

.

.

fashion is not about utility..

.

By anonymous• 22 Jul 2009 20:33
anonymous

I fail to see why it is slave labour to employ a person to help in the office and serve refreshments. We have them in Australia and in Europe. It is called employing people and letting them earn a living and nobody forced him to do it so therefore one presumes he is quite happy to have a job.

__________________________________________________

Man makes plans...............God smiles ;-)

By anonymous• 22 Jul 2009 20:32
anonymous

As-Sunnah As Saheeha

http://www.islamlecture.com/

By britexpat• 22 Jul 2009 20:31
Rating: 4/5
britexpat

Memories.. Amongst others, I worked as a social worker, in a cotton mill, a shoe shop, foundary, casino and best of all - A "Yates' Wine Lodge"

Goo times..

By anonymous• 22 Jul 2009 20:31
Rating: 2/5
anonymous

the little boy is called a tea boy.

 

 

 

I didn't drink the kool-aid! -- PM

By genesis• 22 Jul 2009 20:30
genesis

This is not bashing, but the term "tea boy" was first intorduced in this region by the Indians. We don't even have an Arabic name for that. Where else, i think you must know the term "charwola"

By anonymous• 22 Jul 2009 20:27
anonymous

live off his parents but you say that most of my countrymen are not modest and humane?

 

 

 

I didn't drink the kool-aid! -- PM

By anonymous• 22 Jul 2009 20:24
Rating: 4/5
anonymous

Most of us have done jobs that could be seen as below average but it puts food on the table for some and pays our way through University for some. I worked at alsorts in my younger days. In some cases it is just a means to an end.

_________________________________________________

Man makes plans...............God smiles ;-)

By KellysHeroes• 22 Jul 2009 20:22
KellysHeroes

since they have to prepare and serve coffee as well?

===================================== http://www.qatarliving.com/node/58409

By KHATTAK• 22 Jul 2009 20:18
KHATTAK

Same in our country.....Even if you decide to earn something doing odd jobs...your parents & relatives would say..."you have made us ashamed"..."what would we tell the people" and blah blah blah....isn't it?

-------------------------------------------------------

Whenever I find the KEY to SUCCESS...Someone steals it.

By labda06• 22 Jul 2009 20:16
labda06

oops I dunno why I refered to him as tea boy...office help I mean.

By j3375• 22 Jul 2009 20:15
Rating: 3/5
j3375

i have come across the term 'tea boy' only in the gulf..i guess cos there there is always lots of tea/qawah drinkin goin on and somebody has to make the stuff for the lazy asses and serve them..

Most of the teaboys do get out/go on to other things..its just circumstances that make them accept the jobs..better than no job,i guess.. wish the best/help them if possible..

By sentibhim• 22 Jul 2009 20:14
Rating: 2/5
sentibhim

I have good experience in making tea and cooking rice.

"Drink Beer Save Water"

By anonymous• 22 Jul 2009 20:13
Rating: 4/5
anonymous

no where in his JD its mentioned that he should serve tea.

But the guy is forcing tea every few mins and neglecting

his other duties. During his 7 days absence my collegues drank just 1 or two cups of tea.

After he resumed his duty I told him again not too force

this poison but he is back to his buttering tricks.

Btw my collegues are Europeans...who are just takin

advantage of this Slavery trend Called Tea boys.

Qatar's Tall towers never fascinates me.....every floor

there will be tea boy

As-Sunnah As Saheeha

http://www.islamlecture.com/

By KHATTAK• 22 Jul 2009 20:13
KHATTAK

Vegas & Alexa.....I really apprecaite & respect the efforts you have made in your lives. It helps you more to understand the problems faced by others in same kind of situation.

-------------------------------------------------------

Whenever I find the KEY to SUCCESS...Someone steals it.

By Formatted Soul• 22 Jul 2009 20:11
Rating: 2/5
Formatted Soul

Alexa thats the differnece between you guys and our people. In our country people dont work until they get white collar jobs and the parents feed and shelter them even when they are old enough to work and feed themselves...and its shame for parents when their children do any low paying jobs... cultural difference....

By labda06• 22 Jul 2009 20:10
Rating: 4/5
labda06

I think like most of us they aspire to do better with their lives. Some of them actually have degrees believe it or not. I know one who started off as a tea boy and is now an assistant accountant.It's always nice if they have a boss who believes in them :)

By Formatted Soul• 22 Jul 2009 20:04
Formatted Soul

Vegas probably that’s why you are very modest and humane...unlike many of your fellow country men...lol

By KellysHeroes• 22 Jul 2009 20:04
Rating: 3/5
KellysHeroes

And of course provided some good brain cells do exist

===================================== http://www.qatarliving.com/node/58409

By Vegas• 22 Jul 2009 20:00
Vegas

I'm use to getting things for myself...

Even I don't ask wife to bring a beer LOL...

And by the way I did every crappy job worse than a Tea boy when I was growing up...Single parent three kids...

Landscape, dishwasher, water boy...ect....

I have had lots of hard working low paying jobs...

So I been there done that...

You can't teach experience...

By Formatted Soul• 22 Jul 2009 19:56
Rating: 4/5
Formatted Soul

Vegas …good topic …

One guy in my hubby's office started as a tea boy..he got slight physical handicap (polio)..but he is very proactive...he learned driving promoted as driver, then as store keeper….and now actually he is a logistic asst...in fact doing all the logistic work for his dumb Logistic officer (not mentioning his nationality) lol

from tea boy to logistic coordinator in 8 yrs time...maybe logistic manager in few yrs...dont think he got formal qualification...also deployed to Iraq ..when thier company had contract there...and guess what?

He got married to a Doc..:)

By britexpat• 22 Jul 2009 19:53
britexpat

To be honest, I find this a little offensive. All of us have higher aspirations. Some of us are fortunate to achieve what we set out to do, others are not so.

Most of the "Tea Boys" are here to work to support their families and better their lives.

By panda• 22 Jul 2009 19:52
panda

PM, you see1 what I told you :)

By anonymous• 22 Jul 2009 19:49
anonymous

the two women that started out serving tea are now employed in office positions doing clerical work.

 

 

 

I didn't drink the kool-aid! -- PM

By anonymous• 22 Jul 2009 19:47
anonymous

do not always have the luxury of dreaming about fulfilling career aspirations. When I was unmarketable in terms of career, I was just thinking about how to get a paycheck and put a roof over my kids heads and food in their stomachs. That lead me to working as a cashier, salesperson, waitress and a maid.

 

 

 

I didn't drink the kool-aid! -- PM

By panda• 22 Jul 2009 19:37
panda

promoted to tea girls :P

By Vegas• 22 Jul 2009 19:30
Vegas

wasn't trying to be funny. I just keep reading everyone refering to their tea boy and was curious....

Excuse me...

You can't teach experience...

By anonymous• 22 Jul 2009 19:26
Rating: 3/5
anonymous

...and they came here to earn some savings. They look at this as just a 'job' and do not have plans of continuing the same. Maybe they go back to their previous professions.

Life is Beautiful...Indeed!

By genesis• 22 Jul 2009 19:21
Rating: 2/5
genesis

why is it hard to digest?

the guy studied & followed the cisco track. He also got CCNA.I think you know, that those certificates are hard to fake. Plus he has refrence from a prometric certified examination center

By RedDragon• 22 Jul 2009 19:08
RedDragon

genesis, its a little hard to digest a tea boy getting certified in ccnp and actually knowing the stuff

---------------------------------------------------------

"Yesterday is the past,Tomorrow is a mystery,& Today is a gift that's why its called the PRESENT"

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By genesis• 22 Jul 2009 18:58
Rating: 4/5
genesis

First i hate the term tea boy (Thanks to the Indian Caste system)

One of our IT guys, used to be the tea guy in our organization for the past 6 years. He got promoted last year, after he produced all necessary qualification. not to mention, he's a CCNP certified.

By truthfulvisitor• 22 Jul 2009 18:37
truthfulvisitor

And I certainly don't mean that in any sense of a sarcastic way whatsoever. It takes guts and determination to leave your family behind and go to another country, face daily indignation, constant reminders of how unimportant you are to everyone, take insults if needed and act out as the person at the bottom of the tree of importance that you are, knowing that you are at least able to send a little bit back to help out. Just because you were living in dire poverty before does not mean you find this sort of thing enjoyable.

I've talked to people here who earn very little indeed and manage to get access to driving lessons, and a car, even when the bank won't lend them a single riyal because they earn too little and it is humbling indeed. I can think of two people, very different in their lives, who show entirely different levels of personal strength. One is a Filipina girl who earns a handful of riyals and still makes the best of all she can. The other is a South African who was bitching to me about the new Porsche 911 he was planning to get. You can probably guess which of these had real gratitude on display.

It takes real strength of character to do these sort of things. I for one don't have the personal strength to do it. The same goes for those labourers who work like dogs in the hot sun. A little bit of respect for them would not be out of line.

By Stone Cold• 22 Jul 2009 18:08
Rating: 5/5
Stone Cold

Given no choice, its better than nothing. Acknowledge most of them have the basic office skills and its up to first opportunity that they should grab if one arises. Thats the only way out of this stagnant occupation.

By KHATTAK• 22 Jul 2009 18:04
Rating: 4/5
KHATTAK

I pesonally know a person who was working for a Graphic Designer/Photographer as a Tea Boy....now he has learnt the art of Photography & picture treatment on photoshop & other softwares....getting paid from the same employer much more than before.

It doesnt depend only on your talent....but the vision of your employer as well.

-------------------------------------------------------

Whenever I find the KEY to SUCCESS...Someone steals it.

By verisimilitude• 22 Jul 2009 17:59
verisimilitude

He had made the paradigm shift from a physical worker to a knowledge worker... took him five long years but kudos to him

Last thing I heard was he had got married and brought his wife over on a visiting visa... gotta feel happy for the guy :-)

By anonymous• 22 Jul 2009 17:57
anonymous

agreed agreed with u bro!!!!!!!!!!

lazy ----- barely know how to wipe their own sssssss

lol

clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap

clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap

clap clapclap clapclap clap

clapclapclap clap

clapclap

clap

clap...........

------------------------------------------------------

My boss told me " you are fired"

I told him " boss i didnt hear the shot"

By QatariLady• 22 Jul 2009 17:38
QatariLady

Dr. Stephen Covey calls it 'paradigm shifting'. To make small incremental improvements change your practices, but to make big moves work on paradigm shifting.

By verisimilitude• 22 Jul 2009 17:37
verisimilitude

I know a tea boy who with a bit of help... learnt English, computers, driving and got promoted gradually to a clerical job...

He is fiercely proud of the fact that he has a desk job

When I got that guy a job as a merchandiser with 50% higher salary, he was hesitant simply cos there was physical labor involved... he perceived that as a step backwards...

He had become a knowledge worker now :-)

By anonymous• 22 Jul 2009 17:36
anonymous

I am chill...

I just gave an answer to a question that I deem far below his standard.

By verisimilitude• 22 Jul 2009 17:36
verisimilitude

By azilana7037• 22 Jul 2009 17:27
Rating: 2/5
azilana7037

Why all people become so defensive about everything as if there's always a hidden agenda?

Too much religious arguments/debates happening here I guess ;-P

By QatariLady• 22 Jul 2009 17:26
Rating: 3/5
QatariLady

That's quite an achievement.

FU..

Not making fun of people but I took it like a thought about a job

By azilana7037• 22 Jul 2009 17:24
Rating: 5/5
azilana7037

I know a Nepali teaboy who was referred to me by his former employer. He was good in English and very well skilled in office procedures. I could have taken him as my admin assistant then, only my boss, the general manager didn't like the idea.

By anonymous• 22 Jul 2009 17:23
anonymous

Vegas,

A bit of an ignorant question in my opinion, and if meant funny, it is not.

These poor buggers are here to survive, serving lazy bastards that barely know how to wipe their own asses.

By tallg• 22 Jul 2009 17:22
tallg

veri - chill out, no-ones 'blaming' anyone.

By tallg• 22 Jul 2009 17:21
tallg

A lot of people take it upon themselves to teach the tea boys in their office how to do filing, some basic computer skills, other small tasks, not to mention basic English language skills. And I know of more than one case where a tea boy has been promoted to an office assistant, with a substantial wage increase.

By verisimilitude• 22 Jul 2009 17:16
verisimilitude

Why blame the individuals? they were just forced by circumstances and commitments to accept a job that would give them some income...

you think they are happy with what they are doing?

you think all of them went to school as kids thinking yeah I am gonna grow up and serve tea to other people?

Some people just don't get a fair shot at life

If you genuinely feel sorry for them, give them a kind word and a generous tip

By Vegas• 22 Jul 2009 17:02
Vegas

But I was at this one place and the guy doing the tea was quite old???

You can't teach experience...

By anonymous• 22 Jul 2009 16:54
Rating: 3/5
anonymous

Most of the Tea Boy's I have talked to have worked as Waiters before coming to Qatar.

By QatariLady• 22 Jul 2009 16:53
QatariLady

A butler maybe?!

By Vegas• 22 Jul 2009 16:50
Vegas

You can't teach experience...

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