embrace diversity

For the past few years, my biz has been selling multicultural calendars to companies, governments, schools, etc. Learning about diversity helps human organizations become stronger by understanding, appreciating and even celebrating their differences.

Okay so this morning I look out the kitchen window and there’s a man fossicking for feijoas in our yard. He looks 10-20 years my senior, of Indian or Pakistani descent and wears a turban and long gown with pants. He’s a minority in our neighbourhood – an area of lower socio-economic maori families and gang residences (altho I haven’t observed the latter, it’s only what I’ve been told) living in state housing with an encroachment of amateur property investors “doing up”, “sitting on” or “trying to sell” their nest egg.

We have two feijoa trees and they’ve been shedding fruit for a number of weeks now. The kids from the neighbourhood had started sneaking in and scoffing them before they had began falling from the trees, and were still quite tart. They’re ripe now, plump and ready to eat with many scattered under the trees and stuck to the tyres of my brothers car. Havent seen the kids for a while now but it seems the fruit has attracted a new fan – the man I spotted this morning.

I came out of the house and said “hi” about 3 times before he noticed me. He looked up, smiled and then resumed fossicking. No “hello”, “I hope you don’t mind” or “It’s been a good season hasn’t it?”. So I continued trying to strike up conversation “at least someone’s eating them!”, “there’s still quite a few isn’t there” and “are they still good for eating?”. A few more nods from him, another smile and some mumbled words that indicated to me he spoke little english.

I picked up four fruit for my breakfast and returned inside chuckling in bemusement at how my brothers property has become a public orchard for help-your-selfers. I can’t comment on the audacity of the fruit snatchers because I don’t really think they are knowledgeable enough to realise what they are doing is wrong or rude without at least first asking permission. But in saying this, if they did ask, I know my answer would be “go ahead, help yourself, its better than it going to waste!” so there’s no point being finicky about principles and all the rest. Hopefully at some point in the future they’ll encounter someone else who can teach them some manners. Me? I’m just shrugging, smiling and accepting them as part of the quaint and entertaining little community that is our neck of the woods :)

People are diverse in a lot of ways: age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, socio-economic status… embracing all these things in people requires you to go beyond tolerating, but accepting them into your life, community and society. It is an ideal I think is worth striving for. Ultimately I find living in a place with a diverse culture interests me more – it provides the opportunity to learn and try new things. To travel without leaving home in a way :)