Respect

I really liked what I just saw.  It was ABC Backroads.  They visited two small country towns in Victoria.  Pyramid Hill and Nihl.  The first had tried to attract worker but no Australians would stay around.  So the employer advertised in the Philippines.  Someone in Nihl got in touch with the Melbourne Karen community for workers.
Four workers has become many in Pyramid Hill.  I admit I have a lot of trouble understanding why country towns are shunned by so many.  I reckon the lifestyle is great and now living in the “big smoke” I know that what we grew up experiencing is the dream of many Australians.
The thing I love is how the people were embraced by the community.  One lady said “I feel like a human being.”  One of the Caucasians said, “it is mutual respect and sharing the good times.”
That is the impression I got.  And not just sharing the good times but the hard times to.  One employer and his wife lost their son the month the new employees arrived.  As soon as the Karen people heard about it they offered friendship, love and support.  The wife said I have made friends for life.
I guess the reason I really love this was the dignity of mankind was encouraged.  To me the sharpest tool in the shed and the bluntest are all to be embraced.  Money may make a person  a richer person, but it does not make them a better person.
These people are thankful for the opportunity (one had spent 10 years in a refugee camp).  What in this country was viewed as a job of last resort (working in a piggery) has been seen as step up.  One lady said pigs were now her passion (I did not expect to hear that today)
It is weird how things affect me, but I thought there were some great life lessons in what I saw.  Someone said to me years ago. “You treat everyone the same.”  I will always give respect where it is due, but I admit I see people as people.  I used to play squash with someone in our organization who was in the stratosphere above me, but we became friends and he actually came to my farewell dinner at work.  At table tennis I engaged an Olympian to train our players.  A player from another club said, “you spoke to him?”  Even if someone is highly educated or has exceptional ability, they are still people.
It is the way I feel about everyone.  From the most educated to the one only versed in experiences of life, I believe all deserve respect and to be treated with dignity.  It is those who act like they are better than another that cause me the most angst.
As far as I am concerned, we are all in this together.  It does not matter where I hail from, everyone deserves a chance, and should be treated with respect.