We had another shoot today. This time I learned my lesson and brought plenty of water. Still we started at 8 and I was drenched by 8:15. Now Im not complaining about my living conditions, Im just trying to paint you a picture of what it is like over here. For 8 months a year the weather is ideal. So I can take four months of pretty dang hot. As long as I mentally prepare for it ahead of hand, I can handle it. But I want you to think about this. I was without water for about 90 minutes yesterday and I nearly had a heat stroke. Ramadan is just around the corner. I read in the paper today that the panel for the Center for Islamic studies for yadda yadda yadda will convene today to determine the timings of Ramadan. That consists of a bunch of guys looking up and trying to see the moon. If they see the moon…its Ramadan. Now this will take some adjusting. What I feel bad for are the laborers. Here they are only making $250 a month and they have to toil in that amazing hot sun without drinking any water. There are a lot of laborers out here, Pakistani’s, Indians, Burmese, Thai, Sri Lankans, so this affects a lot of people. Some company’s adjust the work hours for the laborers to be from 4am to 12:00 then from 6:00p-10:00. A lot of these guys work 10-12 hours a day in the sun 6 days a week. All for $250 a month that they send most of it back home to their families. Imagine how bad the economies must be in their home countries to endure that kind of separation and hardship for such little money. Imagine if one of them could go to the U.S. If they got a minimum wage paying job in the U.S. they would be making 10 times their salary they’d be making here. It helps you put it into perspective. So those immigrants making minimum wage in the U.S. are working very hard and are appreciative of everything that the U.S. has to offer. So next time you want to talk down to a person who doesn’t know English too well, cut them some slack. So even with the recessions…Americans have it better than most of the rest of the world.
I was shooting at some handicraft stores today. They make traditional Arabic crafts, like basketweaving, pottery, fabric making, ship building, etc… They were all so cooperative in letting us tape. That just wouldn’t happen in Los Angeles. We’d have to get a permit and wind up paying the participants, getting them to sign release forms etc…its such a hassle. Its just easier to produce here.
Oh…I forgot to tell you the drama…because Manu asked me to keep it quiet. Manu you might remember is our brilliant animation artist. He needed to take two weeks off and he wanted me to keep it quiet. He was planning on going back to India to get engaged, maybe married. The problem was his hopeful bride’s parents wouldn’t give their permission. They don’t understand graphic design and media and weren’t sure that he would be able to give their daughter a proper life. Remember most marriages in India are arranged. So Manu was planning on going back to kidnap (his words) (with her consent of course) his bride and they’d elope back to Bahrain. He texted me earlier this week asking for 4 more days as there were complications. I was worried about him. Reji came into tell me today that Manu is indeed getting married and the bride’s parents relented and are now blessing the wedding. Im so happy for Manu. There is drama right there. There is so much more than love that is factored into weddings out here. Is that wrong? Well lets have the statistics decide. More than 50% of marriages in the U.S. end in divorce whereas the number in India is more like 10-15%. Maybe we should start considering more than just love. You see in India…they know it’s a commitment and they stick with it…for better or worse. In the U.S. happiness is more of a right. If you’re not happy in your marriage, bail, you might get lucky the second or third go around. It’s a shame that the stigma of divorce has been eroded in our society. Im saying all this as I look in the mirror at myself.
Divorce sucks…I miss my kids.
No comments:
Post a Comment