The old man continues walking under the heat of the sunlight. A cart is dragged with his old strong hands. The cart is full of vegetables and some daily needs.
He sells vegetables to moms. Everyday he walks for hours to spoil moms. He brings the vegetables in front of moms'door. He offers lower price than vegetables in the market.
He brings small profit. In the evening, he goes to a big market to buy more vegetables for tomorrow morning. He is tired but he does as his life goes on.
He may not have school certificate but he can count. He is old but strong. There are thousands of men like this. Those strong men may have children that have higher education. It is the life of a man. He feeds his family with his sweat and pride.
The man looks so serious. He is watching her smart phone. He is waiting for an order. He rides his motorcycle and takes his customers everywhere. He gives the best service to get 5 star mark from his customers. With 5 stars, his account in online driver's app will get more customers.
Thousands of middle age men become online drivers or riders. Covid-19 in 2019 and 2020 have caused thousands of people loose their jobs. One of the choice to earn money is to be an online driver or rider.
It is hot and dusty. He should take his customers to a distance. Traffic jam is common situation for him. One thing that he should bring home. He has to bring some cash to feed his family. He may have not much saving in his bank account but life must continue. A strong man will never give up.
Another strong man is a seller of traditional cold drink. It is "Es Doger". It is sweet drink with some black glutinous rice, fermented cassava, and bread. It is mixed with sweet "Cocopandan" syrup.
He walks for kilo meters everyday. He expects people will buy his sweet cold drink. He stops in front of my daughter school. He waits if there are some students or teachers who are interested in his products. After waiting for more than 30 minutes, no one stops. Then, a student stopped and bought a cup of his cold drink. He was very happy for the first customer.
The life
It is life. I am a father with a wife and 3 children. I have to earn some money for food and school fee. It is hard but life must go on. Am I one of the strong men? I am not sure. I often feel in desperation. I am afraid that I can not full fill all my family's need but the fact everything is OK. To be rich and to have a large amount of cash in my bank account is far from my mind. However, being strong is the key to pass by the situation. I should learn a lot of things from those strong men.