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.
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.