It shares a bit of my struggles and illuminations working in the corporate world, at the bottom rung, and sharing a bit of the voices of the unforgettable individuals I met there while working at the Portland International Airport from July of 2012 to February of 2013...
The National
Experience ©Bennett Barthelemy
Retrospect…
It has been
two weeks since my last day with National. In some ways I miss it terribly. It
was a place of transformation for me and an experience I am grateful
to have had. More than anything it taught me how strong and adaptable the human
spirit can be, by sharing in the intense realities of the Ukranians, Russians, Ethiopians, Turks, Somalis that work there… It was an illuminating mix of uneducated,
of misanthropic, of Muslims, of Christians, of ever-shifting managers, part-timers, of
suited service agents - those whose lives delicately balance at the fringe, living
paycheck to paycheck and one icy slip away from bankruptcy…There were Ethiopians that spoke five languages and had advanced degrees working for minimum wage. Deeq has 10 kids and supports them on the salary he makes, while Abdi worked two full time jobs to support his family... Jill's husband fell here at work and shattered his elbow, and despite the two of them having worked here for years and full-time (Jill also was pulling in hours at The Dollar Store too) they were looking at potential bankruptcy...
I filed my
own bankruptcy while I worked there. I was eventually working full time, but filling in for Piotr, a Ukrainian out on medical leave - which meant I still got no health benefits, no raise. The currency to feed the spirit is what I
ultimately came away with -- minimum wage keeps everyone in poverty -- but the
richness that these men and women shared from their lives captivated me. Many
honorable and highly intelligent individuals are at work there. Where is the
Carl Sandberg of our generation? Who speaks for the working class and who
listens? What is happening to the shrinking unions? Is Bruce Springsteen reaching anyone or
preaching to a small choir? It seems the legacy of this blue-collar job has
also left with many questions…
August 12, 2012
This
multi-storied concrete and steel parking garage and the adjacent parking lots
have become my work universe for 24 hours a week at $8.80 an hour. Myself and
perhaps 100 others work for the car rental agencies who’s counters and cars are
housed immediately across the six one way lanes of Airport Way and the
terminals. Essentially I was hired through Enterprise but since EAN owns the
other two brands I become a floater for all three but answer to the National
PDX managers and to their assistants who make my work schedule and tell me
which stalls to park the cars in, when to go upstairs for dirties (dirty cars
from Enterprise), when to stay at QTA(no one knows what this stands for) and help the car washers push cars
through. They tell me when to jump in with driver/shuttlers. The driver shuttlers, as opposed to hikers like me, are
generally the less fit and/or less ambitious employees that work with a chase
van and head to remote lots for transiting vehicles to and from distant overflow parking or down to Alamo for repairs.
Nobody
speaks
the Queen’s English here, or American for that matter – most
communication seems to be via secret code, which is why I imagine they
find it
easy to hire so many non-English speaking, or partially English literate
internationals. If it is not English than its Ukrainian, Russian,
Amharic,
Tamil… It kind of reminds of Dubai, where well over 70 percent of the
workforce
population is imported. The PDX percentage of internationals flip-flops
dramatically of course in any type of magagement position or if customer
contact is required. If you wear a suit your chance of being an American
born
English speakers seems to goes up to about 90%. in the microcosm that is
PDX.
Dubai gets ranked as one of the world’s number one cities for
employment. Portland is about dead last I am realizing... often getting
ranked on par with Detroit, one of the most challenging cities in the
country for employment...
When I am not collecting quotes from the crazy array of individuals here at work
I am a continual daydreamer on my own flights of fancy
to distant and sometimes ancient locales, anywhere but here.
I imagine
the planes that continually zing overhead as arrows shot from some great Turkish bow like the ones I had seen
in Topkapi Palace. Record flight in Ottoman Period said to be 845 meters,
roughly half a mile – nearly 3x what a European longbow of only wood could do.
Light with high velocity. Turkish bows were a blend of bone and wood. Derived from
the Mongul bow. Genghis Khans brother’s (or his brothers son depending upon
which account you read) is said to have shot a target at 335 alds or 536
meters. Eagle feathers from just the right part of the bird, just the perfect
angle and height of fletching, birch. For the bad rap they get as barbarians
they were sure meticulous when it came to warring.
Feb 3 2013
"Bennett,
Bennett, Bennett", Misfien shouted when he saw me at work today. "In
four months we have son we call Bennett. My wife she loves the name. We tap her
belly and say 'hi Bennett!'". I told Misfien my last day was to be Tuesday. He
was a bit upset. "Why you leave? When you come back?" I told him I
was traveling and moving to Colorado. He said, "When you go to Ethiopia? I
go next year. You come, pay transportation and stay with me. You pay nothing
else."
Feb 5 2013
I bought
Deeq and Abdi "real" coffee from Starbucks today instead of the Folgers that was always in short supply in the break room. Abdi and Deeq thanked me and
Abdi said, "We miss you, man." I told them I would miss all their
great stories. "One day when you go Africa you remember Abdi." I told him that when I
see lions I will remember his story of his grandfather. He excitedly shared it again... "When he kill
lion he cut lion's hair and put on his door, nobody ever bother him. Very strong,
7-feet tall. World changing now. New generation like me, afraid of lion. They
used to wrap cloth on arm very big and put in lion mouth. When he bite they
come with knife and stab under neck."
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