the privileged life

Im feeling a bit better. Still have typhoid, but getting better.

I was not born to a privileged life. Neither God nor my parents gave it to me. For that I am forever grateful for it is because of this that the only situation I will be totally lost in is among the upper crust. My work experience has trained me to use whatever available tools to get the job done. I can fix engines with the wrong tools. Try using a screwdriver to turn a socket – it actually works pretty well. So I figured I would be set going to Africa, right? I should work great in the third world countries where they haven’t heard of the right tools; land where whatever works is the way to do the job. Now herein lies the irony. Im white. In Africa, white skin means you live the life of privilege. It means cars avoid hitting you, means everyone wants to give you a ride, everyone expects you to spend money, expects to serve you. They expect me to take the best, need incredible amounts of food, expect me to sit in an office all day, need servants, all that.

My stomach might need the privilege of special food, but I don’t need anything else of a privileged life. Im in charge of the food for us white people in this house. That means I have to tell the servants what to do and what we want. I have no clue how to give orders to servants on how to serve. Heck, I had a hard enough time with housekeepers at college.

This is a racism of a different kind; putting priority on a color of skin instead of demeaning another color. I want to yell that im a real person too. Im not better than these people. Im not insanely rich. I don’t need the best, I don’t want to dress nicely all the time, I don’t need to be chauffeured around. I don’t want to be protected from hardships in life. And I don’t think like the American TV. I have my own ideas, worldview, faith; and its all very different than what is shown on TV. I have more than just a brain inside this white skin; I have a heart and mind.

So guess what? Im going to smash expectations. Im going to serve with what I have; a mind, a heart, a faith, and my abilities with tools. I refuse to serve with money. I refuse to be aloof. I refuse to fit the white stereotype.