What's Wrong with Her Head?

One of the first things I had to do upon returning to the US was find a job. Unfortunately money doesn’t grow on trees, and I can’t really be a mooch all my life. The only option left was to start working. I was worried I wouldn’t find anything, but Alhamdulillah I managed to get a job working at the same place my grandmother and aunt work at.

Today was my first day of work. My position is a laundry assistant at a nursing home. Not just a nursing home but a religiously affiliated nursing home: Lutheran, which is a Protestant Christian religion for those who have never heard of Lutheranism. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue in a large, ethnically diverse city. However, no cities in South Dakota are really ethnically diverse. Most people are Christian and the community I’m living in is no different.

So I was a bit hesitant about working at a Lutheran nursing home filled with older people. If I wasn’t wearing a hijab, no one would know if I were Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, or whatever. But with the hijab on, it’s a bit obvious (although I did have someone once ask if I were a nun…this is why I never wear a white underscarf with a black scarf). I don’t want to add to stereotypes, but my experience is the elderly are less accepting of different people, especially when it comes to religion. Of course there are always exceptions Alhamdulillah.

Originally I figured I wouldn’t have much to do with the residents. If I was washing, drying, and folding laundry, how often would I really interact with any of the residents? I was happy to find out on my first day that I wouldn’t have to collect dirty laundry, but then I found out I would have to bring residents their personal laundry. Even as a laundry assistant, I’ll have to work with the residents of the nursing home.

Like I was saying, I was hesitant about working with elderly people in a Christian setting. What sort of questions would they ask? Would any of them comment, positively or negatively, on my wearing a hijab? Would any of them be rude to me?

Alhamdulillah my hesitation was for nothing. There were plenty of stares and double takes. I would be crazy to expect otherwise. Most of these people have probably never seen a Muslim despite a population of 3000 in the city. And the Muslim hijab is normally much different from what nuns wear, a common site in this city.

There was only one comment directed towards what I was wearing, namely the hijab. I was following my trainer to restock a linen closet with sheets, towels, and the like. To get to the linen closet, we had to pass through a dining/living area which at that time of the day was full of residents eating and/or watching TV. As we walked through, a little old lady turned to another lady sitting beside her and asked, not at all quietly, ‘What’s wrong with her head?’

Now, it could have been worse. I mean, this wasn’t an Islamicphobically fueled question. It was simply an old lady wondering why my head was wrapped in white cloth. Maybe she had never seen a women wearing a hijab or maybe she didn’t even know what a hijab was. I wished the trainer hadn’t been in such a hurry so I could stop and talk to this questioner. But maybe there will be another time in the future.

Beyond a few stares and an old lady asking what was wrong with my head, there weren’t any other issues arising from the sight of me in a hijab. The few times I did interact with residents went well. They thanked me warmly as I placed their clothes in their dresser drawers, most with a smile on their faces. Others asked how I was doing and wished me a good day when I left their room.

Overall, my first day on the job went well Alhamdulillah. I don’t foresee any issues over hijab in the future although there may be some questions here and there. Most of the elderly are friendly and enjoy a bit of chit chat with anyone, regardless of his/her religion. And even if they do pass a sharp comment every so often, sometimes it’s the disease or age speaking, not the person themselves. Regardless, it always gives me hope to see there are some people in this world, in this country, even in this small-town American city, who do not hate Muslims with a vengeance.