Turkey |
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Life of a Turkish Man
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| 100. |
21 Apr 2006 Fri 08:59 pm |
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Quoting ramayan: Quoting miss_ceyda: Quoting ramayan: tuh der is no pervert here |
tuhh.. güldürme beni  |
seni nasılda unuttum ..allah kahretsin  |
hehe allahım yaff
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| 101. |
21 Apr 2006 Fri 10:02 pm |
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Quoting Aslan: remember that she sees everything, hears everything...though she doesn´t necessarily says everything...  |
So what? 
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| 102. |
22 Apr 2006 Sat 12:25 am |
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"Never insult an alligator until you've crossed the river."
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| 103. |
22 Apr 2006 Sat 12:37 am |
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Does anyone actually remember the title of this thread? And to what (whom) it has been reduced to?
AlphaF, what does the world look like from up there? 
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| 104. |
22 Apr 2006 Sat 01:42 am |
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Quoting Elisa: Does anyone actually remember the title of this thread? And to what (whom) it has been reduced to?
AlphaF, what does the world look like from up there? |
Actually the thread was originally about the Life of a Turkish Man who worked in the tourist industry. There were some very negative comments made about the tourist workers in Turkey by various members.
I did suggest that anyone interested in this should read my essay entitled The Turkish Tourist Industry and I still do.
However, further to what I have said in my essay, I will add this.
Someone mentioned that these workers are generally uneducated. This is true in many cases but generally, people don't choose to work in the tourist industry instead of getting educated. The work in the tourist industry because they didn't, for one reason or another, get the education which would enable them to get any other sort of job.
Turkish tourist workers, rarely if ever, have any employees rights. Their employers don't pay their health insurance, so if they are ill, they can't get decent medical treatment. If an employer decides not to pay them, they have little or no access to the law and the only thing they can do is leave the job and hope that they can find another. Although the employers are supposed to provide food, very often the food they get is little and poor quality. They are often not even allowed to eat the food left over from the holiday makers, but have their own (cheap & inadequate)menu which the cooks have to prepare especially for the staff.They often come from poor families and their summer wages are usually saved to provide for their families during the winter. They live on their tips throughout the summer. These boys are 'burnt out' by the time they are 30 and you will rarely find anyone over 30 working in the tourist industry, if they lose their handsome, tourist pulling looks (and they do through poor dental treatment, poor diet and working long hours 7 days per week for the whole summer) they are no longer valued as employees, because they are 'used' by the employers to keep the holiday makers in the bars and hotels spending their money. It is no coincidence that the boys in the tourist industry are attractive and charming, this is virtually part of their 'person specification' for getting the jobs in the first place. They have to be 'jacks of all trade' because generally they have to do everything to ensure the smooth running of the hotel. They have to clean, fix things, clean the pool, look after the children in the hotel, serve, run around after everybody, I've seen one young man sewing the curtains in the dining room, I've seen another scrubbing the clothes of the hotel guests in a bucket as part of the hotels 'Laundry Service'. So what they lack in education they more than make up for in practical skills.
As someone who also has spent some time in a prestigious Turkish private hospital, I can also tell you that the average uneducated 18 year old waiter/barperson, can speak better English and German than most of the doctors in the hospital and certainly better than all of the 'educated' nurses. Extraordinary isn't it? You can have in depth discussions over a bottle of Efes with almost every tourist worker in Turkey, but you can't ask a doctor what's wrong with you and you certainly can't tell a nurse that you need something unless you speak Turkish!
I wont have a word said against these people. They bring in a huge and valuable percentage of the Turkish economy, and yet they can't access any of the social services provided by their blood sweat and tears. So to all you people sitting cosy in your nice bedrooms, with your computers and mobile phones and stacks of university books. Looking forward to your good jobs and your marriages and children, I say this. Spare a thought for all those boys sleeping on the floor under swimming pools, breathing chlorine fumes all night. Spare a thought for those boys with painful and untreated health problems, who have to get up every day and try and keep a smile on their faces for the tourists they serve and finally when you complain about your studies and wonder what your future will be, think yourself fortunate that when you reach 35, you will be approaching the peak of your successful career. When a tourist worker reaches 35 years of age, he will look 10 years older, have chronic health problems that he will have to live with for the rest of his life, bad teeth and probably wont have a job at all!
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| 105. |
22 Apr 2006 Sat 02:09 am |
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A very interesting and informative piece of writing - with a valuable and sobering message to us all. I have always felt sad for anyone having to pander to the tourist - some of whom are vile, such a difficult existence for these hardworking souls - thanks for highlighting the harsh realities of their lives Lyndie 
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| 106. |
22 Apr 2006 Sat 02:22 am |
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Thanks Boop.
I feel very strongly about this. These boys have terrible lives and you cant blame them for taking whatever small pleasure in life they can find.
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| 107. |
22 Apr 2006 Sat 11:23 am |
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Quoting Lyndie:
I feel very strongly about this. These boys have terrible lives and you cant blame them for taking whatever small pleasure in life they can find. |
Lyndie, I couldn't agree more.
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| 108. |
22 Apr 2006 Sat 11:52 am |
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Well said Lyndie
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| 109. |
22 Apr 2006 Sat 12:27 pm |
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Thank you for sharing with us your feelings. I think is sad, but true, and the truth hurts. Thank you once more.
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| 110. |
22 Apr 2006 Sat 12:36 pm |
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I just wanted to say thanks for your message Lyndie, very well said x
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