Equal or Not

I have been thinking a lot about ‘us’…that is, people in general: color, creed, religion, politics, finances all set aside… what makes us alike?

If a man or woman bleeds, it is always red. We have hearts that beat, brains, and souls. We are living, breathing creatures. But, there are so many obvious differences. Such as…

The language barrier.

This is very interesting, and though we don’t all speak the same tongue, we can find ways to communicate. Years ago, I purchased a small house in Youngsville, NC. In the final days of build-out, I was out there numerous times per week. Once we were ready to move in, I purchased a large piece of furniture that I had loaded into my truck. When I arrived at the house, the neighborhood was empty. (We were the 3rd house to be built, and the only human being alive within miles, was a small Latino man raking gravel in the yard of the next house to be built, across the street.)

There was no way I was going to be able to get this piece of furniture into the house without help. So, I walked over to the gentleman and greeted him. I waved, he waved, and I walked up. Once I got close enough, I introduced myself as the owner of the house across the street, and let him know I was in need of help.

He had stopped raking while I was talking. When I finished my question he didn’t move. He just stared at me. I was thinking maybe he was stroking out or something, when he said very slowly, “No speaky english,” in a very broken accent.

Like all stupid people, who believe saying something slower and louder magically makes the words understandable, I tried again. This time much slower and using my hands.

“I …would …like…to …move…” and I went on, using gestures, descriptions, hand signals (smoke signals, if I thought it would work) …anything and everything. However, no matter how hard I tried… “He no understandee me…”

I walked away defeated, trying to figure out how I was going to get the chest-of-drawers in the house, when Star Trek came into my mind. “I need a universal translator,” I said to myself. I actually had one in my pocket! I turned around, walked straight up to the gentleman again, and pulled out a $5 bill. I went through the same request and this time he said, “Si,”…and followed me across the street to help take the furniture in.

Wow… we communicated!

Appearances

When I was a freshman in college my Uncle was badly hurt in a job related accident. Something about phone cables, telephone poles, semi-trucks, and getting himself tangled and towed due to someone not flagging down the traffic. Let’s say my Uncle is ‘the man’ and lucky to be alive. When I got the call from my grandmother it was, “Your uncle has been hurt and we need to drive to Hickory to see him.” ( No request by the way… it was a order. ) 🙂 

I drove to Greensboro, picked up grandmother, then turned around and took her out to Hickory in her Pontiac, Catalina. (She rocked Style like the 70’s rocked plaid.) I put the big old car into the wind and we went on down the road! When we arrived, my Uncle was doing well and wanted to step out for a while to his favorite watering hole. I ‘think’ it was called The Sweet Water Cafe. (Possibly French, but I’m not sure.) 🙂  

We got in his big Bronco and headed out. Now, in perspective, I was about as sheltered as one could get, and had never actually been to a watering hole of any sort. (I was in Bible College for heaven’s sake!)

When we arrived, I was sure this wasn’t going to go well. We walked into a typical little bar/grill establishment and to my shock, ‘ZZ Top’ was sitting around the table having a beer. (At least it looked that way to me.) I had never seen so many tattoos, leather, earrings, rings in general, and soup-catchers (beards) in one location!

Wow, I was out of my depth and didn’t know what to expect. My uncle introduced me, and to my utter stupefaction these guys were articulate, nice and really cool… and it had nothing to do with appearance. Man, did I get that one wrong – and again, another example of how much alike we are not matter what appearances are.

If you look at the big picture, basic human needs are the great equalizers. (love, money, clothes, family, friends, food, safety etc.)  I wonder how our lives would change if we saw our similar needs reflected in other another, rather than the differences?

What would we be like then?