"Not every Saudi Arabian person is rich, my friend, some of us work for a living," Wajeha Mahfouz said to her colleague Patterson Jacobs as she began her shift at Loblaw's. Nodding, the six-foot-tall, athletic and dark-skinned young immigrant, originally from the island of Jamaica admired the short, curvy Saudi gal as she fearlessly pushed a cart loaden with goods to the backroom. As shift supervisor, it was Wajeha's duty to do those things that ordinary Loblaw's clerks didn't care to do...
"Wajeha, you are full of surprises," Patterson said, mostly to himself, and he couldn't help but admire the little Saudi lady...in more ways than one. When Patterson moved to the City of Ottawa, Ontario, from his hometown of Mandeville, Jamaica, he thought the Canadian Capital was a dead end. Patterson's parents, Mitchell and Angelique Jacobs sent him to Ottawa because he would have more opportunities there.
On the island of Jamaica, most businesses are foreign owned, and the rich foreign businesspeople treat the Jamaicans like second class citizens on their own soil. Patterson's parents wanted a better future for him. Patterson adjusted fairly well to life in Ottawa, but not without a few mishaps along the way. One of Patterson's first jobs was to work as a delivery man for Shawarma Empire, a Lebanese restaurant whose owner, Tariq, treated him like crap.
Prior to working at Shawarma Empire, Patterson had zero experience with people from the Middle East. When Patterson's employer Tariq and his other co-workers called him an "Abeed" he didn't know that it was the Arabic term for slave. Patterson only got wind of the truth when a Somali colleague explained it to him. Patterson began to dislike the Arabs after that, and thought they were basically mean people, especially in their dealings with Africans...until he met Wajeha.
Wajeha Mahfouz, who hails from the Al Qatif region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was not what Patterson expected. Patterson had met Saudi students while attending Algonquin College and for the most part, they were well-off, their studies and lodging fully paid for by their government. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia spared no expense when it came to sending its sons and daughters to study abroad. Patterson erroneously thought that all Saudis were rich, an unrealistic notion that Wajeha swiftly disabused him of...
"You're nothing like the Saudi students at Algonquin College, they're so rich and pampered, you're a hard-working woman," Patterson told Wajeha in the break room one day. The two of them sat at a table, enjoying lunch. Wajeha brought her own meal, prepared at home, while Patterson ate a sandwich and fries bought from a nearby fast food restaurant, which he washed down with an orange juice. Wajeha wiped her mouth after sipping her tea, and looked at Patterson.
"Patterson, I work for a living, I left my country, and my former husband, to come to Canada for a better life, and I haven't looked back," Wajeha said firmly. Patterson nodded, and for a brief moment, he felt almost intimidated by Wajeha, even though she was only five-foot-five and perhaps a hundred and twenty pounds soaking wet. According to her social media profiles, Wajeha was only twenty seven, though she carried herself with the confidence and maturity of a much older woman. The Saudi gal had seen a lot, that's for sure.
