TRAVELLING IN AMERICA: ENJOY THE VAGARIES OF
CAPITALISM
Almost always, my
friend the Sage of Sioux City would say, Capitalism rewards the wrong type of
person. I am assuming, hopefully that I do not fall into the “wrong” category
nor does Steve Avery of Sioux City.
In the travel industry
alone, I look at the well paid CEOs (4-6 million dollars per year)- such as the
Budget Airlines Spirit, Ryan Air which have a business model that brings a 10 %
return on investment and 0% in terms of
human satisfaction. The fact that a Malaysian Indian, Tony Fernandes, runs the
best low cost airline in the world, Air Asia, is a testimony that a business
model a la Virgin Atlantic with Asian humility can be combined to the
satisfaction of all.
But when does
Capitalism reward the “right” person? I think it is when the “right” person
does not succumb to the temptations of capitalism, the forces that drive that
system: Greed, Desire, Lack of Compassion.
If you have no desire
for a Louis Vuitton handbag, you would not be worried whether Tokyo or Jakarta
has the second largest LV store! Or how much those bags cost in each of the
stores. If you have not greedy, you are neither jealous nor contemptuous of
that greedy Ecuadorian Endocrinologist drives a fancy car while taking
medications for depression!
Say Good Morning to
all people when you travel, insists my good friend Joe, the humble man of
Bogor, who smiled at me while both waited for an early morning flight at an
obscure airport. Now we have become very close friends and I have visited him
many times in various parts of the world. A cheerful smile many times has led
to fruitful evens in Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Paris, Amsterdam etc…
You have to get rid
of a false sense of pride, the thought that you are a more important person,
something capitalism will not teach you.
In 2008, on a flight
from KUL to REP in Cambodia, there was a chance encounter, once again pride
over friendliness that led to my meeting some wonderful people in Kuala Lumpur
in Malaysia.
These human moments
are priceless, no credit card can pay for it, no job can prepare you for it, no
amount of salary will facilitate it.
My brother Joe, in
Miami, of Cuban-Jamaican-Syrian ancestry is an example of compassion and
kindness and these extends to all-the exuberance and peace of being with him,
cannot be had for a price.
Just because the
system we live under almost anywhere in the world is capitalistic (including my
poor little island of Cuba, where socialism at a societal level flourishes but can’t
be said to flourish at the economic or political levels), we do not have to
EMBODY the fangs of it: greed, desire and lack of compassion.
So what happens to
this writer, who does not embrace capitalism but is rewarded by the Capitalist
society?
As I told my good
friend Brandy at AVIS rent a car agency at Omaha airport who always has a big
smile for me: Even if someone makes a whole heap of money, they cannot
AFFORD to live like me!
(a viet success story: from refugee to a medical doctor)
Free First Class
Tickets on International Flights: BA to Bangkok, LH to Frankfurt from Beijing, TG
from London, AB from Dusseldorf to Miami and forthcoming LH trips to MCT. I am
upgraded to First Class most of the time while flying domestically in the USA,
always Free.
Lounges at Airports.
On a recent morning at LAX I was surprised at the traffic at the departure area,
long lines for coffee at brand name shops. Even though I missed my Cuban
Cortadito, I quietly slipped into the American Airlines Admirals Club for a cup
of tea. I have enjoyed extraordinary lounges, just this year, at IST, KUL, BKK,
LHR to name a few.
There is always a
warm welcome waiting for you at the hotels, but you have to choose them right.
During the last trip in the USA, I stayed at Hilton and enjoyed each one of
them, I was given an upgraded room, better room, free wifi and free breakfast
etc.
But it was good to
chat with Nur the Ethiopian driver of the hotel shuttle at PHX, Miguel at LAX,
the Bengali poet at the desk in Vancouver, BC and surprisingly, Angelo the
Choctaw at Omaha Hilton. None of these would have exciting if I did not have
excellent personal time with friends, my
family in Miami ( Time is the precious gift); two visitors from Denmark, one
from Jamaica;good friends from JMH days; a Thai Lunch with an Omaha speaking American lady in Honolulu,
the museum director at the Makah Indian reservation at Olympic Peninsula,
lovely Vietnamese visitors at Yakima, a kind Jewish rheumatologist in Seattle,
my sister friends in Winnebago and Yakama, my other Indian friends all along
the Indian country. All these happened
in a matter of three weeks..
As Indians would say,
Mitakuye Oyasin. We are all related.
Which can be translated
for the western mind as,
Without
relationships, nothing holds much value.
