Wednesday, June 09, 2004
The Mason and the Architect
A friend once (sometime in October, 2003 - a few months after the invasion) blamed another friend for being so negative and not helping the Americans who were so eagerly working to re-construct our country.
He said that he had met a number of these people both military and civilian and he was convinced that they were decent people who really wanted to help.
The other friend replied’ “Well, I’m sure you are right. Many of these people are decent and full of good intentions. I honestly believe that”. He then added, “In a construction site, if the mason laying bricks was a good, decent professional but the architect had designed prison cells for me and my people…do I give the good mason a hand?”
A major difference in mentality and outlook between Americans and Iraqis is that most people in the west generally concentrate on being proficient in doing their job, leaving the “grand designs” and the “philosophical visions” to “management” or other “specialists”.
Many Iraqis, on the other hand, keep looking for the grand design to see where they fit in the scheme of things…and don’t spend so much time on getting the job done!
A “ whole human being” should do both!
He said that he had met a number of these people both military and civilian and he was convinced that they were decent people who really wanted to help.
The other friend replied’ “Well, I’m sure you are right. Many of these people are decent and full of good intentions. I honestly believe that”. He then added, “In a construction site, if the mason laying bricks was a good, decent professional but the architect had designed prison cells for me and my people…do I give the good mason a hand?”
A major difference in mentality and outlook between Americans and Iraqis is that most people in the west generally concentrate on being proficient in doing their job, leaving the “grand designs” and the “philosophical visions” to “management” or other “specialists”.
Many Iraqis, on the other hand, keep looking for the grand design to see where they fit in the scheme of things…and don’t spend so much time on getting the job done!
A “ whole human being” should do both!
# posted by Abu Khaleel @ 12:43 PM 
