By Mutryce A. Williams
For as long as I have been on this earth the one thing that has always perplexed me and continues to perplex me is that some of us fail to realise that in life there are no real layers or might I say there should be no real layers. There should be no strata. There should be no classes. There should be no differentials. There should be no turning up of the nose. There should be no, “I am better than you…you are beneath me…you are not worthy…or don’t even approach me because we are not on the same level.” There should be no one who is made to feel inferior because of others’ quest for superiority or dastardly insecurities.
There should be no, “I have attained. I have accomplished. I am more ambitious. Your station in life is your fault because you refuse to pull yourself up by the bootstrap so therefore I am so disgusted when I look at you.” There should be no, “I am more intelligent or learned than you. You are ignorant so therefore why should I affiliate or associate myself with you because there is simply nothing that I can learn from you.” There should be no, “My house is better than or I dress better than or I am more articulate than…You…so therefore according to the pecking or social order I must in fact be better than you.” There should be no sea of disparity but yet there is and we justify it by saying that that is the way the cookie crumbles. We fail to somehow believe that we are all equal.
As I continue my journey through life, when I see such injustice and I call it injustice, it pains me because I think that each person should be judged based on who he or she really is. I think that each person should be given a chance before one forms an opinion of him or her. I think that each person deserves to be respected and treated as if he or she is equal. We all came into the world with nothing and we shall all leave with nothing. This, I think, is so cliché at times because I don’t think that we actually allow the realisation to seep into our beings. We also hear that time belongs to none of us, we are all on borrowed time, so I often wonder why not be as kind as you can to everyone. Why not view each individual as if he or she was really created equal…that is in God’s image and likeness. Why not throw away that crown of self-importance? Why not become less obsessed with keeping up appearances because money, status and education do not make you a better a human being. My grandmother used to say that a good countenance, striving for a pure, clean heart does, and treating others as we would like to be treated does.
Reacquainting ourselves with these principles as well as instilling these values in our youth as opposed to the idea of the grandiose accumulation of material possessions, ‘bling’ and wealth would serve our nation well. I often wonder whatever happened to the saying, “Take little and live long.” I know that there are those parents with the, “I didn’t have so my child MUST have philosophy”, but we need to rethink this way of thinking and get back to the basics. We need to get back to humanness. One’s soul should not be so worthless or empty that one needs the assortment of name brand to add worth or make one feel like a better person. One’s soul should not be so empty that the opinion of others weighs so heavily on one’s perception of self.
It is said that people judge you based on how you carry yourself as our local vernacular puts it. My grandfather, who was a ‘sharp boy’ would sport his clothes and say, “These aint cost me anything, I can tell you as long as you wear a smile, your clothes clean and pressed who can hold you.” He would then laugh.
Happenings in the international sphere, especially in the United States whose economy has undergone a financial meltdown with many people seeing their American Dream go up in flames, has caused me to wonder how all of these events have affected their humanness. I suppose it makes one realise the fragility of life. I suppose it makes one realise how easy his or her station in life can change. In these times there are so many from Prince to Pauper stories…one minute you are living high on the hog and the next you have to wonder whether or not a tarpaulin or box for shelter will do…and the shocking thing is that one may end up relying on the mercies and graciousness of the same people that one looked down on. Life has a way of teaching us all valuable lessons. In this region we are still quite fortunate. I don’t think that we should wait for life to dole out some of these lessons for us to remember how to be human or that we are human.
