Old Gingers? No Thanks!

I know nuts about cooking and so the gingers I am talking about are not the rhizomes that are commonly used as spices in cooking - they are people. There is a Chinese saying: the older the gingers, the hotter they are, which is more or less the English equivalent of the older one gets, the wiser one becomes. I shall not challenge the years of their inhabitation on earth, but these old farts need to shut their mouths at times.

With the changing economy, our Government is encouraging people to remain employable through retraining programmes. That calling was answered by my colleague whom I worked with at the airport. On my first day at work, she told me that she got the job through Government's referral. It is a blogging etiquette not to mention names when critising sombody that we know and usually, I leave them out. But interestingly, her name can be guessed in a game of charade because it sounds like ginger. I am not biased against older workers because l will be labelled by others as uncle in a few years time. However, old gingers should adjust their idiosyncrasies when working with young people. Afterall, we are not their grandchildren.

Actually, I have no intention to blog about old gingers because we - the younger generation should be tolerant towards our elder counterpart. The two incidents that happened in 2 consecutive days had forced the steam out of my nostrils. The first incident happened when I had finished work; the second incident happened today when I just stepped into the shop. Like a drama, it had a beginning and an ending except that the sequence jumped.

The first incident was at the security counter. All staff are to have their bags checked before exiting from the departure hall. There is a security guard whom I am friendly with. That night, I called him 'sayang' (a Malay word to mean 'darling) as usual when I saw him at the counter. The salutation was nothing amorous, just like the common endearment 'baby' used in western countries. When I was in London, a young road sweeper nearly hit me with his broom as I was walking down Oxford Street. He apologised and said "sorry, baby." It may be unusual for a guy to address another as baby but still, I do not interpret it as he hitting on me. Another security guard was on duty. When he heard me calling his colleague 'sayang', he cautioned me against 'sexual harrassment' in the workplace. From the dull look of his wrinkled face, I knew he is one of those conservative homophobes - an uncle who mistook me as his grandson and tried to lecture me on social decorum. I told him off and delibrately bade my sayang goodbye - loud and clear. That security guard should not read too much into my friendly gesture but learn to accustom to people's way of showing friendliness. Next time when he tries to act like a school prefect , I will tell him, "relax lah, brother!". If he was that road sweeper at London, I would probaby get a snarl followed by grumbles behind my back after I walked away.

The next day, I thought that the old folks would just bugger off but an Empress Dowager crossed my path the minute I stepped into the store. When she saw me (she is the one whose name sounds like the ginger), she delivered a harangue of the do's-and-don'ts of my work. She bossed around in a loud and irritable noise like an inconsiderate motocyclist who storms in the still of the night. And she is not my boss, mind you. She must be in the mood for Formula One that she drove me to boiling point. I told her off, just like the way I did to that homophobic uncle. Give me a break, old ginger. I just started my shift and couldn't she wait for a while before rattling on with her self-imposed protocol which is a matter of her preference than company policy. I can embrace her good intention if she had given me time to inhale the freshness of the air in the store.

Call me an irrespectful young brat. Having worked with veterans in my first job 11 years ago at the TV station, I know how uncles, aunties, grandpas and grannies enjoy treating younger colleagues as their grandchildren at home. The old gingers were not always right because of their resistance to change. Older workers should not only retrain their skills but should also readjust their mindsets when working with the younger generation.

To all the older workers who are pain in the ass: don't indulge in the old ginger title. Don't forget that beside gingers, there are other spices too.