the old man.

i am currently having a 4 month break, semester break, and currently working as a part-timer at a place i used to work at. anyways, to keep the story short, i started working yesterday. so i entered the kitchen feeling all lethargic and tired and everyone greeted me and were shocked to see me getting back to work. nothing much changed with the place- still hot and oily here and there but hey, it's work and it pays me money. but there was something else that caught my eyes. i saw an old man, a little younger from my uncle (who's now 66 by the way) working as one of the washers in the kitchen. immediately my heart sank. what kinda person would allow a man of that age to do manual labor?

did you know that his work involves him doing the dishes as well as washing all the pots and pans used by the chefs as well as mopping the floors? i know it doesn't seem like a heavy job but it actually it is. imagine having to wash, arrange and wipe heavy dishes and pots and pans at the age of 55 and above instead of resting at home and enjoying life?

i just had the chance to talk to him today. actually, he initiated the conversation first.

"kamu kampung mana nak?" the old man asked, his back a little bend and in his eyes were little twinkles. his skin were a little dark and course and he smiled at me.

"saya tinggal dekat matang. taman matang jaya. pak cik?" i asked him. and sure enough i got a reply from the old man.

"saya tinggal dekat kampung baru semariang." the old man replied.

that's quite a distance from here, i thought to myself.

"so, macam mana pak cik datang kerja?" i asked, concerned.

"naik bus, pastu naik van. sampailah." the old man said with a smile.

immediately my heart sank again. he was mopping the floor while we were talking. then we walked over to the sink while i was doing my work and he was cleaning something else. we talked some more. all the time we were talking, that smile never faded from his face, that carefree-i-have-no-problems kinda smile. i think for me that smile was a sad smile too; it was as if he was protecting a huge secret from me. i don't believe that he's doing this part-time job of his for 3 months now because "he has nothing better to do at home". i guess it's for some other reason(s)

so i found out from him that he was a retired prison guard who has no children and living with his sister. why he was working? because he was bored at home so now he's at the hotel's main kitchen doing the dishes. 

i guess what i'm trying to say here is, i don't know really. i pity the old man. i think should have not been there in the first place, working, doing manual labor. he should be at home, resting, enjoying his retiree years. i don't think he should be there. but maybe he needs the money. i know at least he's not begging for money at least but it still aches me to see such an old man doing labor. really. really. i guess me and him, what we both have in common is i guess he needs the money and i do too. that's why both of us are there.

some of us are just so fortunate, we have no idea.

p.s: life's not easy to begin with but everything happens for a reason.