Everything is almost always shiny and welcoming when you're a tourist. It's all exciting and beautiful; sure you see the dirty side, the sad and depressing side, but it's almost in passing and you take it like a grain of salt. Walking past the gypsies was almost like walking past the homeless in Philadelphia. The only difference was that the gypsies always had something to do to keep busy, and put a little change in their pocket. That and the use of their children to bully people into giving money and buying tissues. So it's not quite like the homeless in Philadelphia, but the feeling was similar, a horrible circumstance that you wish you could personally put an end to but you know there's nothing you can do about it. It's actually been an ongoing discussion between Emre and I. He thinks that by buying those tissues or whatever those children are selling will only encourage their parents to keep sending them out. My argument is that I doubt it matters much. If there's a bad day, they'll just say tomorrow will be better, and each day will bring more wealth. In fact I think that mindset has been engrained in the lifestyle of the working class here.
Here the minimum wage is almost impossible to live on. Currently minimum wage stands at TL799.5 ($443). Minimum wage workers were only recently exempt from wages, which have fallen to the responsibility of the employer; a worker working for minimum wage actually costs his employer TL1,110. This means that there are far more unaccounted workers than anyone cares to admit. And on top of that, many employers do not pay for health insurance, at least not until a worker has given several years service. Istanbul is an expensive city to live in. Rent is not cheap, and neither is transportation. Both of which are essential. How anybody lives on minimum wage is beyond me.
It sort of makes it difficult to enjoy all the great parts of Istanbul, like when suddenly the sea is flooded with jellyfish that they thickly cover the entire area all along the coast.
And then there's always crossing the Bosphorus, which is an incredible journey every time, except when you're too mentally exhausted to care.
The most incredible part in all of this, is that so many people endure. Many don't complain, and simply thank Allah for what they have. In such a society I can understand how easy it is to get stuck in a place without any sign of a way out, the risk seems almost too great. It's a repressive system, one in which it's almost impossible to save enough to move on to something worthwhile. Which brings me to my next point: self worth. The conditions and and boss-worker relations completely break down a person's character, to the point where he no longer feels he can move on to anything else, further convincing him that he is stuck. Mobility is limited.
photographs ©Megan LaMon
Here the minimum wage is almost impossible to live on. Currently minimum wage stands at TL799.5 ($443). Minimum wage workers were only recently exempt from wages, which have fallen to the responsibility of the employer; a worker working for minimum wage actually costs his employer TL1,110. This means that there are far more unaccounted workers than anyone cares to admit. And on top of that, many employers do not pay for health insurance, at least not until a worker has given several years service. Istanbul is an expensive city to live in. Rent is not cheap, and neither is transportation. Both of which are essential. How anybody lives on minimum wage is beyond me.
And then there's always crossing the Bosphorus, which is an incredible journey every time, except when you're too mentally exhausted to care.
photographs ©Megan LaMon
