Identity Crisis

I have recently declared war against Lebanon/Lebanese, and this is another battle I am waging fiercely. I have been looking for a decent job in a not-so-decent country for about three months now, and yet have not found anything that is well paid. And although I was about to give up, it dawned on me! I can work as a house maid!

See, here in Lebanon, a Sri Lanki or Philippino or Ethiopian house maid/cleaner (all due respect) usually charges between $5 and $7 an hour. Let’s do a simple mathematical calculation:

Say this maid is to put 9 hours a day into work (working hours in Lebanon as per the Lebanese Labor Law), and is charging $5 and hour, this would mean that they are making $45 a day; meaning $225 a week (if this maid/cleaner is to work 5 days a week). Again simple calculation, $225 x 4 – they would be making $900 a month.

$5 an hour
=> $5 x 9 = $45 per day
=> $45 x 5 = $225 per week
=> $225 x 4 = $900 per month

On the other hand, a Lebanese standard salary range is between $500 and $700 a month. Since we used the minimum in the previous calculation, we will use the minimum with this calculation as well. So, our Lebanese employee is making $500 a month; this means they are making $125 a week, which implies that per day our employee is  making $25. Nine hours of work a day would mean that a Lebanese employee makes $2.78 an hour.

$500 per Month
=> $500 / 4 = $125 per week
=> $125 / 5 = $25 per day
=> $25 / 9 = $ 2.78 per hour

I am having difficulty understanding the formula in this country. No offense meant to the Sri Lankis, Philippinos or Ethiopians, but someone please explain! Some of these house maids/cleaners are actually lending money to Lebanese people with interest!

Another thing that infuriates me is when a company “imports” an American/Canadian/French/British to fill in a management position, and pay them a huge sum of money (not to mention the housing and other benefits) when there are many Lebanese who can fill that position. I don’t get it!

Our beloved capitalist employers do not want to pay us – the Lebanese working citizens – what we are worth, and yet willingly spend huge sums of money for a foreigner. Why? If I am to apply to a position in the USA/Canada/France/England or any other part of the world (except the Gulf, since they are too lazy to work and have a lot of money to blow); but if I were to apply to a position in any part of the world, I’d have to have extremely special qualities and capabilities to be accepted. Otherwise, a “local” would be hired for the job.

Not in Lebanon; we love humiliating our own and boosting the “others”. And you wonder why we are in such a screwed up state?!! Too bad, working as a house maid won’t be possible – I still hold the Lebanese nationality.

I salute the “foreigners”!