The maintenance office says to me that they are Brazilian, so they will probably keep it clean. Because...(she adds) it seems like all the cleaning people are Brazilian.
Besides what this logic says about her... or them... it isn't flattering to me either.
And honestly, I don't keep it very clean.
You know how WASPs are.
tsk tsk tsk.
I am on the plane from London to Boston and I help a Ukrainian woman with an infant fill out her arrival paperwork because she has almost no English. The baby has a US passport, Olga a Ukranian one. The flight attendant comes by and gives me props for helping.
ReplyDeleteOlga doesn't know her daughter's address in Boston where she'll be staying. I often have no real address when I fill out arrival papers either, so I ask the flight attendant if she really needs that.
Her: "Yes. I can't believe they let her on the plane without knowing that."
Me: "They never ask me that when I get on planes, why would they ask that?"
Her: "You speak English."
Me: "Not all the places I go are English speaking though..."
Her: "Yes, but you speak English and are educated."
Oh. That's how it is. Okay. So Olga could be a physicist and I could be a high school drop out waitress - this flight attendant has no idea. But because Olga doesn't speak English, she's automatically less than I am.
And the Brazilians are cleaner.
There you go.
Unfortunately, stereotyping people is worldwide. We are still known as "The Ugly American" in may foreign countries. It is a sad commentary on the world today that we have those ignorant, pre-conceived and absolutely awful opinions and keep propogating them!! m.
ReplyDeleteAnd see, I just made a typo. Tsk, Tsk! m
ReplyDelete