Khawla

Khawla is, I guess, the “manager” of a local independent drug store. To me, she is the “Manager of First Impressions” or, even more, a gracious hostess.

At work, Khawla (who grew up in Palestine) mostly uses the name Kathy, I imagine because it is easier for our American ears and tongues. I have this belief, though, that one very fundamental way of respecting people’s various diversities is to call them the name they would like to be called. I also think that we Americans tend to be kind of provincial in the way we get cranky if someone has a name that doesn’t come easy for us. So what – get over it. So I asked Khawla if Kathy was her given name (I suspected not). When she told me that her given name was Khawla, I asked her if she would like me to call her that. I thought she seemed pleased as she said, “Yes”.

Khawla’s drug store is in many ways outclassed by the “Big Box” drug stores. Their stock is mostly just medications and low-priced cigarettes (kind of ironic) – and not much beyond that. But they are the only pharmacy downtown and they are s-o-o nice. All the staff are nice, but Khawla is the queen of nice. It actually goes way beyond nice – Khawla makes you feel that you are a valued guest in her store.

Yeah, lots of restaurants, retail stores, etc., are picking up on the “guest” language and metaphor. But for Khawla it is neither an affectation nor a gimmick nor a metaphor. That’s just how she thinks about it. I mentioned this observation to her one day and she responded – with obvious sincerity – “That is the way I see it. Most of our customers are also very nice, so I am happy to see them come in.”

Another thing that seems significant about all this is how many of Khawla’s customers are poor and/or disabled. They live in rundown and/or subsidized housing downtown and don’t have cars to go to any of the more glitzy stores outside of the city center. These are folks who are often marginalized or devalued. Khawla treats them all with equal graciousness. If she even sees that the customers are poor, disabled, etc., she shows absolutely no sign of it in her manner.

I wondered if any of Khawla’s gracious manner stems from her cultural background. I asked her the other day and she said, "I think so - to respect each person for who they are." This is not something I knew about Palestinian culture - I am glad to know it now.