The Wisdom of Lando aka Papa Lando, who cleans my room after school. He sweeps, I grade papers, we trade thoughts.
As I have begun to have conversations in more detail, friendly Congolese want to ask more questions about Americans. I find it difficult to hear them say “les blanc (the whites)” as if we were all the same. Just as difficult as being in the US and hearing people talk of “the Africans.” I want to remind both parties that the country is vast (America) and that Africa is a continent comprised of many countries. One should show caution before making such broad sweeping statements.
However, I suppose there is a bit of human nature to this and tried to find some delight in their (mis)perceptions of Americans. So I composed a list, recognize yourself , be wary, be amused.
Ÿ American women are free, they have a lot of privelege and don’t want to get married.
Ÿ If you did want to get married, it doesn’t cost too much. (no dowry.)
Ÿ If you have a lot of children, the government will help you (pay you.)
Ÿ If you have a job in America, you will become rich.
Ÿ Families don’t stay together in America, they’re not close. (surely this is true in many cases, but also NOT for many close knit families who have seen generations pass through one house or piece of land.)
Ÿ Everyone in America has a job, a lot of money and no one is hungry. (We could only aspire to this.)
Ÿ It is only the people in Texas that are mean spirited. The rest of the states are good natured and friendly to all.
Ÿ Your children will take care of you when they are adults. (Really, this is an African idea that is assumed to be true for Americans. Lando laughed at me when I told him how grown children will still ask for money to help with college, a car, a house, etc. He laughed even louder when I told him about the huge hospitals where we stash our old folks and pay other people to take care of them. He did not believe me. “Who pays?” he asked incredulously.)
An interesting concept was raised about salary. Lando remarked that in Congo workers are often paid by the day. In America, it is better, he reasons, to be paid by the hour. It sounds good until you realize all of the regulations in place. There are overtime limits and many companies discourage or even prohibit any overtime at all. Often, companies look for part-time help, in which case the hourly pay adds up to much of nothing, a little bit of something. And most ironically of all, the better jobs in America are the ones that pay in salary, not even by the day but by the year. These jobs are often time consuming and people take work home with them. They work on weekends or long distance electronically while on ’vacation’ or holiday. Generally, you work until the job is done, which it often never is and so the salary becomes small compensation for the quality of time you’re missing. There was really no way to explain this to him that he would actually believe and comprehend so I just left it. Yeah, it seems reasonable that getting paid by the hour would be a lot better. Just like it seems reasonable that getting to America would solve all your problems make the world a better place. Some things, there’s just no arguing. As for the Texas thing, well………
