By Eric Wilson-Edge
If you’ve visited the Starbucks off Cooper Point and Harrison you’ve likely met Selam Burke. One of the great mysteries of customer service is that there’s seldom time to talk. The emphasis is on speed. Burke packs a lot into a little. She addresses regular customers by name, makes their drinks all while engaging in decent conversation.
I see Selam pretty much every morning. I stumble in around six o’clock with my laptop and blurry eyes. Selam knows my drink. She asks how my wife is doing. We chat. At some point I’ll be reminded that I should have a rewards card. Selam likes to tell me how many free drinks I’ve wasted.
It’s this last part that I truly value. Selam isn’t one to mince words. The first thing she tells me during our interview is that “my life isn’t that interesting.” My retort of “that’s what everyone says” is met with laughter.
Burke was born in Ethiopia. She grew up just outside the capital city of Addis Ababa. Her father worked as a mechanical engineer at a sugar factory, her mother ran a hotel. Burke is the second youngest of six children. “We had a good life,” says Burke. “We grew up okay.”
In 1961 a war broke out between Ethiopia and what is now Eritrea. The conflict lasted 30 years and resulted in Eritrean independence. A few years later the two nations went to war again. Burke and her family lived in Ethiopia for years. However, her father was from Eritrea. Ethiopia began deporting anyone who had even a trace of Eritrean blood.
“I’m not Eritrean,” says Burke. “I don’t know anybody from Eritrea.” In 1997 Burke left Ethiopia for the United States. She filed for and received political asylum. Most of her family now lives elsewhere. Her mother stayed but spends at least half of the year in Canada or the US.
Burke landed in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She could read English but couldn’t speak it very well. Burke has an accent, one she embraces. “If you understand me – fine. If you don’t – fine. The attitude I have is very stinky.”
Burke’s first few years stateside were difficult. She was lonely and didn’t quite understand the culture. “Everyone here is go, go, go,” says Burke. “Where I came from is very mellow.” Burke believes in minding your own affairs. This philosophy backfired while on a train from Washington DC to Virginia Beach. “Whatever the train driver said I didn’t listen to because it wasn’t my business,” says Burke. “How many times did the train take me back to the station?”
In 1999 Burke met her future husband. They married, moved out west and finally settled in Olympia a few years ago. Burke has two children and that’s tempered her somewhat. She once quit a job at Popeye’s Chicken after four hours because it was “gross.” “Everything is different now,” says Burke. “You’re not living for you. Being a mother makes you worried and responsible.”
Culture is something Burke tries to pass along to her kids. She likes to cook them traditional meals even though the youngest isn’t a fan. “They are fifty percent African,” says Burke. “They need to know where I come from.”
Burke likes to tease her children. She tells them wild stories about her upbringing. They respond in kind. “My kids make fun of me,” says Burke. When she tells her kids to take the sheets off the bed they ask if she’s saying a bad word.
Burke is now a US citizen. She says, “this country taught me how to work. You work hard and you can succeed.” As for Olympia, Burke loves her neighborhood and the schools.
We end the interview. Selam still doesn’t know what I find to be so interesting. I tell her I’ll see her in the morning.
