Day 17: Blue

Today, Honduras is playing Mexico in soccer. Starting on Monday, blue flags and jerseys began to pop up all around the city as passionate citizens showed their support and clever entrepreneurs banked on that passion. On the way to work this morning, I was shocked to see so many people wearing the Honduran national team jersey. There is an electricity in the air that is not normally present in the city.

On the way back from lunch, Jesus and I stopped by Diunsa, a large department store, to visit the bank. The line must have been at least 20 people long. Americans would go crazy in such circumstances, but the Hondurans waited patiently for their turn. I decided to explore the store while Jesus waited for his turn in line. What struck me most was the large number of employees in the store. There were dozens of blue-uniformed women strategically stationed all over the complex. Some were diligently counting inventory while others were itching to help any customer in site, unlike the few minimum wage teenagers that you usually find in a similar store in the US. I have found this same phenomenon all around Latin America as shops can afford to have a lot of laborers due to the low salaries.

In the food court, there was a Dunkin’ Donuts, Mexican restaurant, and juice bar. Here, there were women in red uniforms, who were clearly contracted to clean the floors. They methodically picked up trash and swept the floor… not too fast and not too slow. There was no expression on their faces, as if they were working on autopilot. I am very lucky to have the opportunity to work at something that I love.


Joel Montgomery

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