Son of a Red Devil

5. Oh La La La

61 Chapter 5 Oh La La La never managed to adjust to life in Belgium, or find work I could be passionate about. I always dreamed of working in the tourist industry. Not because I thought it would be such a dream job, as so many people like to describe it, but because I need more sun than anyone else. The first time I had a go at it was in 1996, before the explosion of Internet. I responded to an ad in a Flemish newspaper by Neckerman, a Swiss travel company. They were looking for animators. Initially, I was turned down but since I did not want to take ‘no’ for an answer, I sent my curriculum vitae again and finally got invited - as if they could not refuse me twice - to this big meeting that took place in a hotel in Antwerp. Upon entering the place, I thought that the whole event was going to be a boisterous and that I was going to be met by all kind of self-assured men, playboys - the kind you see doing kite surfing and stuff - and sexy chicks. It was none of that. The candidates seemed to have been chosen based rather on their lack of sexual appeal or, to be more precise, for not being sexually ‘threatening’ and conspicuous instead. I must have looked awkward in this place with my Milli Vanilli look. I was the only black person. What a surprise! Even these days when I sometimes visit their website, I do not come across any person of colour among the tour guides and animators. I had to present myself in front of everyone and explain what motivated me to want to work for them and shit. Afterwards, I had to pass an interview in the company of three people. I have always wondered whether their reasons for not recruiting me were not sexually motivated. Well, I certainly did not look inconspicuous, not to mention all the sexual fantasies surrounding black male sexuality. Everyone knows that sex or your sexual orientation can be a determining factor in recruitment policies. To deny this would be I 62 hypocritical. It is generally known, for example, that most male flight attendants on Belgian airlines are gay. And if not, they certainly do not look all too manly. This trend is so common that when I went to New-York with Air Continental, I was amazed to be served on the plane by men who just looked like real men. With my effeminate hands, I am afraid I could not even be ranked among them. If those Belgian airlines had been more colour blind, I would certainly have fit the profile to work as a steward. I was also surprised to see black, not just light-skinned, flight attendants when I was walking around the airport in New York or at Heathrow. It is just baffling to see how some countries could be light years ahead compared to other countries while having basically the same percentage of people from foreign backgrounds. I spoke three languages fluently at the time, and they must have known that for someone who speaks Flemish fluently, I would have learned German in no time. During the interview they asked me if I knew someone who worked for their travel company. I told them about a girl with whom Bruno went to school at the College St. Pieter. Her mum came to pick up my brother every morning at our home. I would meet that girl a decade later at the club called ‘The Mirano’ in Brussels. That night, I also saw one of Belgian greats: Arno Hintjens, the former frontman of the band TC Matic who, as always, seemed to be in nice feminine company. He must be one of the few Flemish singers who appealed to the Francophone community as well. His sexual appetite was notorious. I was friends with a girl, a back-up singer, who knew him quite well. He was damn right! At least he was more alive than most people can claim to be at a far younger age. I think he must have been fifty-four or fifty-five years old by then. Little did I know then that we were born on the same day so I guess we might have a lot in common. Anyway, she told me she was still working for Neckerman which made me look at her with envy. I still wonder how my life might...