Recently, a dear colleague, who is from Vietnam, told me the story of how his son moved to Abu Dhabi a few years ago, albeit briefly.
When the financial markets crashed in the West, he beckoned his son to come here: “No jobs in America, I told him, come here, quick.”
He soon found a job as an IT analyst, but now he’s back in Florida, so I asked him why he didn’t settle here.
“In America, no one cares where you’re from. If you have money, you eat at a fancy restaurant. If you don’t, you eat at McDonald’s,” he replied.
And then he said something that unsettled me: “Life is making money and if you have money, you’re relaxed.”
His son is now making money, he said, enjoying his life in a US coastal town blessed with fresh air and wide, open beaches.
What a simple mindset that is when you think about it: if life is just about making money and money gives you satisfaction, then if you have it, great. And if you don’t, buckle up. The notion that money might be at the root of all evil doesn’t even enter the equation.
But what doesn’t factor into this equation is the idea that you work for money and work is a good thing as long as you’re not a slave to it.
The way to achieve that balance is to relax and find something you love to do. If it doesn’t make you money, stick to it, get your money from another source and be brave about it.
After all, it’s not money that makes you happy, but it’s definitely part of the magic. That’s the reality, accept it. Basically, money talks. Listen to it, listen to that voice. We’re all the same.
In this country, we spend our lives colliding with different cultures and we often lack the ability to see different people for who they really are or why they are here in the first place.
It’s a common refrain to hear expats referred to as those who are “just here for the money”. But there’s more to a person than what he does do for a living.
When I am at work, I am often asked where I am from. Sometimes people wonder if I am “just here for the money” too.
Recently, I was at a conference hosted by the company I work for at some hotel I shall not name here.
I sat at the registration table and made sure I was served with a constant flow of coffee. There, I struck up some small talk with one of the waiters.
“You’re different,” he said. “You’re polite. Your voice is quiet when you speak. Respect.”
He then told me a story about a woman who ordered him around for no apparent reason. “But it’s OK,” he said. “Maybe she’s been having a hard time at home”.
Forgiveness is a generous quality. So is understanding the value of money and where it can take you – and where it can’t.
Sara Al Nuaimi is a receptionist for an unnamed UAE company
