A lot of brothers and sisters out there get uppity with other Black folk when they achieve a certain level of education and success. I'm happy to say that I am not that type of person, thanks in part to the influence of my lady love, Laila Jama. The six-foot-tall, gorgeous Somali lady who recently accepted my marriage proposal used to work as a security guard at The Emerald Tower in Gloucester, Ontario, where I work in the customer service department of a vast call center.
Before we go any further, my name is Emmanuel Patrick Germain. These days I am also called Brother Ismail, and I'll get to the reason why real soon. First, though, a little about me, the hero of this here piece. Got one helluva story to share with you. I am writing these lines both to share lessons that I have learned, and also to warn you of the price we pay for hubris.
I was born in the City of Montreal, Quebec, to a Haitian immigrant father and a French Canadian mother. I graduated from Concordia University with a bachelor's degree in business in 2013, and moved to the City of Ottawa, Ontario, looking for work. I ended up working at Tim Horton's, like so many highly educated recent grads who just can't find work in their fields.
The Emerald Tower stands tall in Gloucester, overlooking the east end of Ottawa, Ontario, and from the seventeenth floor, one can see for miles in every direction. I like the view from the top. From that vantage point I can see Blair Station and the Blair Shopping Center, and even the Silver City movie theater. It's a favorite hangout for my lady Laila and I, by the way.
Anyhow, after working at Tim Horton's and getting insulted and demeaned on a daily basis by angry, impatient clients, I was feeling very lousy. While surfing the web at the Ottawa Main Library on Metcalfe Street during my lunch break, I came across an ad for The Emerald Tower. They were looking for bilingual call center operators, and offered free training for those who qualified. Oh, and the job pays seventeen dollars an hour to start, no uniform required, only business casual attire.
Well, that sounded good to me and I applied. A week later I went to the Emerald Tower for an interview, and got hired. I loved my new job, where I got to wear a suit and tie, and I met with other educated and successful people, instead of the riffraff I was used to dealing with as a Tim Horton's worker in downtown Ottawa. With my enthusiasm, people skills and flair for business, I quickly rose within the ranks. I became a dedicated worker, and soon got promoted to assistant manager in the customer service department. Not bad, considering I'd only been there for a little over a year, eh?
The good thing about working at the Emerald Tower is that they have a fairly diverse workforce. I saw lots of Nigerians, Somalis, Lebanese, Syrians and Chinese people among the people I encountered at work every day. As a tall, good-looking biracial man ( who identifies as Black ) I was initially worried about sticking out like a sore thumb. The Emerald Tower was a fairly progressive environment to work in, this I must admit.
The City of Ottawa isn't as diverse as Montreal and people in the Capital are fairly conservative, and in their own way, quite bigoted. They smile at you a lot but you don't know what's in their passive-aggressive little hearts. I don't trust Ottawa people as far as I can throw them. I still shudder with rage when I think of what I overheard two old white guys say in the elevator. The two bozos were talking about P.K. Subban, the Black defenceman for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League.
Recently, P.K. Subban got in a bit of trouble for allegedly slashing at one of the white dudes from the Ottawa Senators professional hockey team. A lot of people across Canada were hating on P.K. Subban for that, but honestly, I saw right through their bullshit. They're mad that a talented brother who rocks the NHL took a swipe at one of their precious white dudes. They wouldn't have made half that much fuss if it had been the other way around.
I'm glad that Black Canadian professional hockey player P.K. Subban scores major points for the Montreal Canadiens, and I hope he keeps on playing and winning. Show them overly entitled, racist white dudes what a strong Black man can do! Yeah, I'm that brother who walks around the City of Ottawa wearing a P.K. Subban jersey and I don't apologize for it, not even on game day.
By the way, on the same night that those two white creeps from work were hating on P.K. Subban, he scored a major goal for the Montreal Canadiens and helped them win over the Ottawa Senators. I seriously wish I could have seen these losers faces afterwards. Anyhow, I digress. Where was I? Oh yeah, I was telling you about my job at the Emerald Tower, and how I met my future bride Laila Jama.
There's a large security team that handles both halves of the Emerald Tower. These men and women were blue shirts with their company logo and black pants, and they guard the entrance of the buildings, grant and deny access to people, and overall, look after us. A lot of my co-workers wonder why we need security in the first place but I for one like them. One of the security guys, Stephen, is a hard-working brother from Jamaica who is studying part-time at Algonquin College.
While a lot of my colleagues thumb their noses at the security people and cleaners that look after the Emerald Tower, I talk to these people all the time and make friends with them. It wasn't that long ago that I was a recent university graduate working at Tim Horton's to avoid becoming homeless. Now I make twenty five dollars per hour, and live in a nice building in Gloucester but I will never forget those days when I was struggling.
One day, while in the cafeteria, I sat there, sipping coffee while browsing Facebook on my iPhone. That's when a vision of beauty walked in. A tall, gorgeous woman clad in a short-sleeved blue work shirt, black cargo pants and black boots. The woman's hair was neatly tucked away under a Hijab, and she walked to the counter, ordered herself a sandwich and a Pepsi, then went to sit at a table not far from mine.
Now, everyone on the security team is over forty and white, with the exception of my Haitian buddy Stephen, and there's nine men and two women on it. I thought I knew all of them and wondered who this absolutely beautiful stranger of the feminine persuasion might be. This tall, lovely woman had Somali written all over her.
Sensing me looking at her, the young Somali woman looked up and our eyes met. I expected her to look away but she held my gaze. Smiling, the young Somali woman waved, and I smiled back shyly. For some reason, that fearless smile on the young Somali woman's lovely face made my heart skip a beat. I finished my meal, smiled and nodded at her then walked away. Don't ask.
For the rest of the day, I sat at my cubicle, fielding calls, and I was absolutely distracted. I kept thinking of the tall, pretty Somali woman in the cafeteria. The face of an angel, a body that porn stars would envy, and a most mesmerizing ass. Mama's got an ass on her! As the young guys would say, I most definitely wanted some of that.
Three days later, something amazing happened. There's an asshole named Wellington something or other who worked in the sales department. You've met the type before. One of those white guys who hate minorities, and worship Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and agree with the Conservative viewpoint that people of color should be mass-deported from Canada. Well, the dude finally crossed the line with his racist bullshit and got canned.
I overheard shouting down the hallway as I exited the lunchroom after eating some Shawarma which I ordered from Shawarma King, the best restaurant in Ottawa. I saw Wellington and he was making a fuss and the tall Somali gal from before, attired in a security uniform and overcoat, was trying to calm him down. Wellington glared at her the way I might look at a cockroach I see in my living room, and looked like he might take a swing at her.