Once I stayed in a hotel, way outside an European city since the hotels in the city were booked out for some major event happening in that city. There was a girl in the reception who could speak good English and I had to depend on her for everything including getting the directions to the places I have to go. I stayed there for 10 days and I spent a good amount of time with her. After a week we became good friends and our conversations went beyond getting the directions. During one of our conversations, I learnt that she is staying in a place which is far off from that place. Sometimes she drives and sometimes she takes the train. Either way it takes around one and half hours. I also came to know that she is expected to start the day in the hotel at 6 in the morning but she usually comes in 5 in the morning to assist the guests leaving in the morning to catch their flights. It means she has to leave her home at least by 3:30 in the morning. It is a small hotel, so the job is not that great. And getting another job in that part of the world is not a difficult task. But still she has been doing this for the past 2 years. She is only 21 years old. When I asked her “Aren’t you bored?” she answered instantly “It is my decision, how can I crib?”
Once I was waiting for a tram in Switzerland. I just missed the previous tram and my next is in another 20 minutes. It was around 8 in the evening and I was alone. A tram which runs in another route stopped and the drivers changed. The driver got down from his cabin and chatted for 5 seconds with the driver who got in. He then came and stood near me smoking a cigarette. We said hello to each other and started a typical conversation which you make with absolute strangers whom you probably will never meet again in your life. Since he was also waiting for the same tram for which I was, we ended talking to each other for around 15 minutes. He was a perfect gentleman, immaculately dressed. I could see that he was wearing his uniform with pride. I learnt that he was driving the same Number 14 route tram which runs in the same route for the past 15 years.
And closer to home, most of our fathers retired in their first job.
