That should make less than ten saudi riyals, and that is also a daily pay of a cleaning or municipality worker here in our country. That also boils down to around under $100 dollars a month.

• Your Mcdonalds Big Mac meal represents around 6% of this persons monthly income.
• A Baskin Robbins ice cream takes up 2% of his monthly take home pay.
• A bottle of perfume can wipe off 90% of that month’s salary, or all of it and more having him to pay the balance on a one year loan with monthly payments of $4.5 excluding interest.
• A fancy sushi dinner for two will leave him with 50% of his salary.
• A pair of Nike’s will bust his monthly income.
• An ipod will pick up 3 month’s pay.

So if we look closely we will find this person is nowhere on the human leagues strides into the future. Was it bad education? extreme poverty caused by their countries? was it bad luck being born by another father and mother? was it simply that, that is not my subject. My subject is a bit more life threatening.

I imagine today with you, what it would be like to wake up with that kind of income and life.

I wake up early before dawn break to the smelliest morning ever! I wake up shocked, disgusted, in utter dismay. I look around me and see nothing but bodies in my room, more than 10 people at least, some waking up and others still snoring away to the beat of the rhythm of the night. I am as shocked by the rising aroma of STINK. I make my way to the light, which looks like a bathroom, I wait for the guy to finish and observe the rotting fungus, the unscrubed floors, the stained walls and floors, total disgust, I am about to throw up.

I finally make it to the showers, where’s my shower gel I think to myself? then remember that I can’t have that luxury cause it costs me 6% of my monthly pay and decided to buy food with it instead. I find a shrinking piece of fake CAMAY soap that is losing shape and color with a bare scent to it, and start my scrub down. I do take a shower so I look for my underarm, can’t have that either! So I move on and wear my blue clean uniform, it seems I am a cleaner at some contracting company.I try to ask the fellow workers about what we do, no luck they all speak soem asian lingo and I don’t.

We all seem to have this jail like food they call breakfast, I join in. Take my one tea for the morning, that’s all, nothing more, no coffee, no turkish coffee, that costs 2% of my monthly pay. If I wanted to have one each day of the working week, it would cost me more than 40% of my salary, I would rather sleep early and clean my body from caffeine.

We are shuffled along into this long 1970 US school bus. I can imagine the great people who studied in this bus, somewhere in the US of A. And here I am going to clean some street I was appointed to recently, they say the drivers are generous there and pay us more than my old road sight. Sweep slow beside the rich cars, BMW, Mercedes or any BIG car with a snobbish looking driver in the morning or afternoon( plenty of those I think to myself).

They drop me off and my supervisor screams something at me which I did not understand, he nods his head from side to side, and I do the same. I look around me and remember he pointed out that this stretch of road is mine. the heat starts to slowly, eerily sneak upon me, i tremble in fear remembering the 1 o’clock sun in this country. The cars start to pack up and the heat is getting worse, i already stink! I can’t handle it but must. A driver signals me to come quick, I run to him with my broom, he hands me 2 SAR I smile back, thank you.

I am dripping like a shower now, the temperature is rising and its only 11 in the morning.

The street gets dirtier by the hour, the sun gets hotter by the minute, the cars increase, the weather is unbearable and unhealthy for sure, but who cares! I wear my cheap mask and move on. I meet up with one of my friends i think, he hands me a cigarette, some cheap woody flavored brand, I sit in the shade with him and smoke away. I witness 3 kids in a car throwing their fast food wrappers while looking at me in the eye, I smile back in a freaky way that even scares me? I know that the day is long and hard from here, I put out my ciggy and move on.

We meet back at 5pm somewhere off one of the main roads.I don’t mind everybody’s sweaty appearances and smell, all because I was one of them. I need to brush my teeth and get a hot shower, dream on say’s the little voice in my head. I remember my family back home, and can’t wait to make them proud when i send them half my salary or more this first month. They need it more than I do, I should be happy, a person like me back home makes $100- a year, I make it in a month!

I cannot continue for a month like that. I resign, come back to reality and Thank Allah/God for his mercy and my parents for taking care of us till we started out in life. We are for sure a lucky few, for poverty is spreading, few are helping, many are suffering, the numbers are growing, and not in our favor.

At least the next time a worker sweeps the floor next to your car, don’t look away, he needs that change, to him its more like a monthly bonus for him to buy things for him, things that you and me take for granted.

She calls out to the man on the street

“Sir, can you help me?

It’s cold and I’ve nowhere to sleep,

Is there somewhere you can tell me?”

He walks on, doesn’t look back

He pretends he can’t hear her

Starts to whistle as he crosses the street

Seems embarrassed to be there

Another day in paradise-Phil Collins

mamdooh alradadi

me@mamdoohalradadi.com