Diary (22nd July 2024)
I spent the weekend in Amsterdam and recovered some of my strength. Seasonal workers from Poland work 10 hours during the week and until 3pm on Saturdays. I decided to work eight hours during the week and get Saturday off. I thought I would have a working environment similar to theirs, but it is not at all the same. These women live for eight weeks in a double room, sharing a shower with seven other people, and on top of that, they are courteous and serious about their work. They also seem to enjoy joking with each other while they work.
‘’Do you work on Saturdays, Kumi?‘’ Brigyda asked me, to which I replied that I was going back to Amsterdam. The main reason was that it was too physically demanding, and I wanted to rest, but I made unnecessary excuses such as ‘my husband says he needs a car’.
In Amsterdam, I met some friends. One of them I met, he works as a consultant in the financial sector. He has great respect for producers who make creations from the land. He is aware of ‘the reality that the rights and wealth of certain groups, e.g. white male workers, are realised through the exploitation of another group, people of colour, women or nature’, and he is also interested in food and art, which makes him interesting to talk to. He said that the working environment in the financial consulting industry is poor, and that it is normal to be mentally ill, working 10/12 hours a day on a computer with a budget of 80 Million Euros and enduring power harassment by supervisors…
I don’t think I’m likely to get mentally ill working at this organic bulb farmer, at least for now. I want to get used to it physically as soon as possible.
I am off to work!
