2019 November - Warning: This Blog Contains a Bit of a Rant!

November 22, 2019

1 comment

It is still a Man’s World

”What good is a bank account that you cannot get money out of?” I asked the intelligent looking bank manager. It is a government bank in Sambalpur. No air conditioning in any of the rooms and hardly a computer in sight. Just the basics. The bank manager scoffed that our Holi Boli staff's government issued ID cards (AKA Aadhaar card) had incorrect information and there could be no opening new usable accounts until the ID was fixed. “These girls should not tell the wrong names to the government employers” the bank manager said. The slick city dwellers can spot the village girls a mile away and quickly shift all blame onto them with painful predictability. I could see the ladies heads drop.

Well, I am not one for fighting but sometimes it happens. I emotionally retaliated that “these” girls write their names correctly and it is in fact the government workers who make the mistakes. Then “these” girls have to spend days changing the mistakes and paying extra to get their ID cards corrected. I managed to maintain my calm, if only by a thin thread.

Off we went to the ID card correction facility - another government department. There are perhaps fifty people crammed around a small desk with a computer and a printer. Before we could even enter the building the security guard refused to let “these” girls in the door. I told them that we were together. He looked surprised but allowed to us to enter. As we walked in the door the officer on duty quickly told us there was nothing he could do for “these” girls and that we should take them to another facility for their corrections. Before leaving he asked how 'these' uneducated girls could do work. I told him these were the smartest ladies in India and were highly educated in international quality fashion design and left.

Sometimes I think I could turn into the ‘HULK’, but I know anger never solves anything. Turning into a green rage-filled monster never solves anything. So, I channeled my feelings for good outcomes and allowed the energy to equip me for the fight to get “these” ladies their ID cards corrected so that they can have bank accounts that work (it's actually a government policy that all staff shall have wages deposited into personal bank accounts). End of the story - We won! Bank accounts opened! Finances released! No relationships destroyed. No males were harmed in the making of this story (sorry She-Hulk fans). LOL :)

It’s still a man’s world out there. It is getting better but it is still not good enough. I remind myself that I do not want to become the things I hate. That is what happens if we go all ‘Hulk’ rage when we are wronged - we wrong others. We need to ‘Nelson Mandela” that rage. Turn it into a better world. A fairer one. We don’t want to take power from people (not even the crazy old school male ones). We want to empower! Let’s focus our rage to empower others! Wow! A Fearless Ethical Friday Rant! Hope you are still OK!

1 comment

You gotta have a rant every now again. Good advice. Personally I go for Hulk mode. LOL.

Sharon Hill on November 22, 2019

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