How Much Blessed Do You Feel?

How much blessed are you? You are healthy, access quality education, drive to work, and most of all you have food on the table, every day. These are things that for some in your state, in your city and definitely in the building you live do not enjoy regularly. So how do you reflect on your station in life and does it make you think about the welfare of others, and of your own in a more insightful way. Does that make you consider what you can do to change it, to improve the condition of life for others, whether it’s volunteering your time at a local school or doing something more profound? You never know whether the person who cannot put bread on the table now is going to be the chief executive officer of the company you work for after you earn a graduate degree or after you face mid-career crisis and switch jobs. God forbid but in a rapidly changing world that remains a possibility.

Five weeks ago, I was at a suburban Marriot hotel for a two-day conference and I wanted to ask a female housekeeper for information. However, she couldn't talk to me because she didn't speak English. She, nonetheless, tried to direct me through hand gestures. Hand gestures I very much appreciated.

Today a man, looking for a job, came over to my desk, and just like the housekeeper, he spoke no English. Certainly, these two persons spoke other languages and fluently so.

If you live in North America, you understand how much important it’s to speak English. In the most simplistic example, it, more or less, determines if you would be able to access a job opportunity and as a result put food on the table. You can disagree with me if you will. On a more profound way, it limits your career progression if you already have higher or other professional degrees.

An example of this is Asal, an Iranian immigrant to the United States, who I met four years ago. Asal had a master’s degree in Psychology and a bachelor’s in education. Nonetheless, she worked at a retail, chain store as a logistics support staff with a per hour gross pay that was less than $8. So sad! Huh. The reason was that she didn’t speak English.

In retrospect, I feel so much blessed that at least I don't need an interpreter around me to access basic services and I volunteer every week in my community to improve the lives of people who deserve a lot better! But how much I would have reflected on this is something I wouldn’t have imagined much without meeting those two adorable people I have mentioned above! Now I know a little reflection goes a long way.