Unfairness and Acid Tests

That was in 2001, I completed 3 months long formal schooling
part of field engineer training in one of the corporate training
centers in North Eastern Africa (there are training centers
everywhere), but I was lucky to be there where Queen Cleopatra
reigned thousands of years ago. So the last weeks two training
cohorts overlap, us who are going to be graduated and those who
are new engineer recruits who will go through coming 3 months.

On one evening, one American engineer who was assigned in
Beijing (read as good hardship allowance on top of good pay
without going through real hardship) was bragging his exotic
life there in the middle kingdom, while another Scottish chap
who had to started his pre-school training somewhere less
pleasant was complaining - I started my field engineer training
in a small oil town in small oil rich West African nation. While
listening their youthful and colorful (dating girls, food, wine,
hard liquor, pay, bonuses, hardship allowance, staff house),
while changing the sweaty socks those were killing my toes
(for field engineer job is a high paying blue color job so it trains
you not only to manage crew but to work like crew whom you
will manage), I realized one thing. When you are in the right
side of the unfairness you better be silent, but when you
are on the unfair (still better than those who do not get such
highly paid, demanding but rewarding job with a career) side,
do not complain either.

Being born in wrong side of the planet, in the poorest and least
developed part of the globe. I had to pace my steps faster just
to be on par with my more fortunate colleagues in the position.
However, the positive side is you have gone through that and
you survived and that is the acid test.