MikeLigalig.com

RESPECT
By Atty. Gee Biliran
November 12, 2006 The Bohol Standard

Lately, something happened which reminded us of one of the basic rules in life we learned in kindergarten-RESPECT.

We must have already learned about the unpleasant encounter of Luli, the First Daughter, with an immigration officer at the international airport. We learned about how the immigration officer allowed a foreigner to queue in the VIP line in front Luli and about how Luli confronted the immigration for such behavior. Accordingly, the immigration officer scolded Luli for not knowing how to wait and even ridiculed her for queuing at the VIP line. The newswriters likened the scene to a sitcom, as his colleagues were vainly giving him hints that he was insulting the daughter of the President of the country.

It took a supervisor to bring him to his senses.

It must have been the most unfortunate day of his life. When he later realized his faux pas, he must have wished he were not born.

“Why, oh why, did it have to be the daughter of the President?” he must have lamented, to the point of self-flagellation.

In fact, days after the incident, he absented himself from work and made himself scarce before he gathered enough courage to answer the charges against him.

Looking back, I think it was fortunate that the immigration officer did not recognize Luli when it happened. Fortunate, too, that Luli did not immediately “show her badge” to the immigration officer. At least, the officer’s real color showed. It showed his mean demeanor towards Filipinos in favor of foreigners and his arrogance towards people who “do not deserve to queue at the VIP line.”

Had he recognized Luli, he would certainly have treated her like royalty. But since he did not know her, he treated her shabbily, perhaps, just as shabbily as he treats “ordinary people.”

The incident is a lesson for us all. It is a reminder for us to respect other people, especially those we consider “inferior.”

While it is natural for us to respect our superiors, we often forget to respect our “inferiors,” in the same way that the immigration showed disrespect to Luli, thinking that she was just a commoner who did not deserve to be at the VIP line.

Public officers tend to forget to respect civilians. Teachers tend to forget to respect students. Lawyers tend to forget to respect litigants. Employers tend to forget to respect employees.

“Hotel Workers Rising,” a union campaign led by hotel workers in the world’s top 10 international hotel chains and corporations, is now brewing in the United States and Canada.

In Canada, the Toronto Mayor proclaimed November 10 as the International Hotel Workers’ Day in the city, during which members of the “Hotel Workers Rising” campaign held a rally and forum to make public their workplace issues.

As expected, the union campaign was met with obstinacy by the employers. Early on in the talks, a member of the negotiating committee was fired. During the international conference on AIDS (which the union members bannered as a hotel worker’s issue), 70 of the workers were suspended for defying management’s order to remove the buttons they were wearing, which expressed the workers’ solidarity with the conference.

A union activist proudly recounted how a worker responded to a taunt that went: “So what have you gained from wearing all those buttons and rallying? Those who did overtime would thank you because they earned a lot of money! You, what did you get?”

The worker replied simply: “RESPECT.”

When we show respect to our parents, we kiss their hands (which children no longer do). Before our superiors, we bow our heads.

How do employers show respect to employees, teachers to students, public officers to civilians, lawyers to litigants?

This, by giving them their due to enable them to live lives deserving of human beings. This, by allowing them to exercise their basic constitutional rights to due process, among others. This, by avoiding discrimination. This, by talking to them in the same way that you talk to your superiors-pleasantly. This, by avoiding name-calling. This, by allowing them to “open their minds” and not be threatened by their emerging empowerment.

The list goes on and on, but our false sense of importance more often than not prevents us from giving these “lowly” people even a little bit of kindness.

When I take up the cudgels to right a wrong, it often entails a lot of sacrifice in terms of reputation, time, money and energy, especially when I defend a David against a Goliath. Sometimes, I wish I just accepted the status quo, shrugged my shoulders, and turned a blind eye to the injustices and discrimination going around. It can be frustrating, especially when supposed like-minded friends desert me.

I sometimes ask myself if my efforts are worth it.

What have I gained by helping them?

After having read about the “Hotel Workers Rising,” I knew the answer: RESPECT.

Not for myself, but for them.

(Happy birthday to brod phim)

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=85063.0