Today

Today is not a good day.. so it is easy to dwell on the negatives. I am forcing myself to think of the countless good things I am taking for granted.

I found that the tea lady's children stay home by themselves when she is at work. Last night my husband said his friend's children stay home all day (now it is school holiday) by themselves when she is at work. He wondered if it is normal like that here. YES. For most people who cannot afford a stay-at-home parent or a live-in maid, the kids tend to themselves. The tea lady wakes up at 4am everyday to make meals for the whole day so that the kids have food to eat even when she is not home.

On school days, she also makes sure the school uniform is all ready in one place - underwear and socks included - so that the younger one can get ready by herself before noon. She drew a 10 o-clock for the kid to refer to so that she would not be late. Things mothers do for their kids.

I remind myself to buy something for her kids whenever I buy a snack for myself at work.

For some people, little things mean a lot. Compare that to ingrates who are never thankful and who always want more.

This reminds me of what I see every day at work. We the locals can be considered the middle class. The upper class is the expats. The lower class is the migrant cleaners.

Expats are paid maybe 10 times our salary. They also get all kinds of perks, like lodging, allowances, and the paid trip home (or anywhere) every quarter.

The cleaners are paid maybe a tenth of our salary. They do not even get any medical coverage. Most of them do not see their family back home for many years -- they cannot afford the costs.

We the middle class spend money here and there mindlessly. My electric bill last month was half of the tea lady's monthly pay. My groceries last week costed more than the cleaner's monthly pay.

If I am still ungrateful, then I do not deserve more.

May Allah keep me in the right path.