First World Country, Third World Mentality

The company I work for uses the services of a particular limo driver regularly, when we had a full day of packed meetings and had to rush from point to point.

This driver was always on time, provided service with a smile and drove safely and reliably. Suffice to say we were always satisfied with his service.

We booked his services for a full day on Thursday. Unbeknownst to us, our last ride of the day with him that day turned out to be our last ride with him ever. Because that night he passed away, leaving behind his wife and 2 children.

Representing the firm, I attended the wake the next day, bearing condolences on behalf of the company. 

I found out from his relatives, that he also drove Grab/Uber part-time to supplement his income and that it was common to drive 15 hours a day. 

Speaking to his family, it came as a shock to me how much work and stress one had to bear to drive long hours to make a living. 

Looking though my Facebook feed this morning, one of the top trending videos depicted a lady who gave her driver grief because he went through an Electronic Road Pricing Gantry, causing her cab bill to rise by $1.50.

She kicked up a huge fuss and even accused the driver of kidnapping her when she found that the door had been locked (an automatic safety feature on most modern cars).

In the end it turned out that it was impossible to avoid toll fees on the route she was on. Consequently, the driver ended having a sleepless night and will no doubt be traumatised for a long time.

Gandhi said in 1931, that the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated.

I would like to add that the greatness of a nation can also be judged by the way in which its service staff are treated.

We live in a first world country but a significant amount of black sheep possess a third world mentality. We have mothers who tell their children to study hard, otherwise they may end up as a road sweeper. We have multiple instances of domestic worker abuse cases annually. We don’t even treat the people defending our nation fairly and fuss up a storm when we see a man uniform taking a seat on the train.

My hope is that the above mentioned trending story will not end up as just another cyber witch-hunt, but will serve as a reminder for us to be a more gracious and inclusive society, to treat every member of society with respect and equality.

It is important to remember that everyone plays a role in society and that only by treating each other with respect can we finally call ourselves a first world nation.