The Melting Pot

When I was a teen, I was anxious to get my first job. I tried all the usual places, with no success. I was becoming tired of hearing the same reason over and over again, "We need someone with experience." Being as vociferous as I am I would always reply, "Well, how I am going to get any experience if no one is going to hire me because I don't have any experience?" Looking back, I realize everything happens for a reason. One afternoon, my father went to the bank and noticesd a sign posted on the door. They were looking for people that were available to work part time. He spoke to the bank manager and explained that his daughter was a teen and looking for employment. She told him to bring me to see her. When given the news, I immediately went to meet with her. She made the appropriate calls and handed me all the info. for the appointments and interview. Later that week, on my birthday actually I aced al the exmas, the interview and all the backgrund checks. I was hired at the bank at the age of 17. I started part time during the end f my junior year and full time in the summer. By the end of July, I was training other tellers and by the time I graduated from high school I was a supervisor, not bad for no experience...

Well, this job was one of the best times I have ever had. I believe every nationality was accounted for. As well as the age range, I was absolutely the youngest person there. Except for thre girls that were a few years older than me, that were hired a year after I started. Everyone else was older. We had a great time together. During holidays we would all bring dishes that were typical to each person's celebrations and we would all share in each others cultures. This is where I had Roti for the first time, southern baked mac and cheese, Jamaican curry goat and swordfish, and soo much more. This is the beauty of living in America. We traveled the world in a day wthout ever leaving our job. Being the supervisor, I scheduled breaks, lunches and vacations. This is when I learned the intricacies of different religions. Ramadan was one that was very important to the Muslim faith and so I would accommodate those that needed their schedules to be altered in certain ways. We all worked together without a problem, why? Because we respected each other as human beings and we went out of our way to help each other. If someone needed time to go to Church on Ash Wednesday, then someone else volunteered to switch a lunch break or supper break. If somone needed to go to the Mosque for a different religous observance someone covered for them. The religions represented were catholics, muslims, hindus, baptists, and pentecostals (I'm sure there were others that I can't recall now). There were also a few that didn't have any religious affiliation and that was cool with everyone. Oh, and the music!! This is why today I have almost every genre of music in my collection. We listened to rock, blues, jazz, classical, indian, reggae, salsa, new age, R&B, rap,...you name it we heard it and I loved it al!!! I guess maybe this comes from being born and raised in a community rich in ethnic diversity, you say!! Nope, it wasn't always mixed. Originally my neighborhood was predominantly caucasian with a mixture of Jewish, Irish and Italian...that's how I learned to eat latkas, matzoh, corned beef and cabbage, canteloupe and linguini in alfredo sauce yummy!!!! My parents taught me to respect people and their beliefs. Even though i witnessed the racism on an everyday basis, I made a conscious decision to not behave that way. No, I think it worked because of the respect that each individual was given to be their own person. No one needed to feel ashamed of their culture, their dress, their religious beliefs, their music.

We went out together after work once a month, to enjoy each others company. We had great times. After some years, we even had a marriage come out of that place... a joyous occassion for us, but not for the families of the couple. Our acceptance of each other had brought a Muslim and a Himdu together in love and her father was a Muslim that held a position of prominence in their mosque. Their families intolerance brought them painful tears, but they chose love and married with all of us and their families in attendance. They tried their best to appease their families.

I wiil always look back at the 7 years I was there and be grateful that I was able to enjoy all those people, their stories and their cultures. It has enriched my life. In turn I have tried to pass those truths and that respect for people to my children. This is my story and why I don't condone intolerance of any human being...

employment
tolerance
my life