Brain Dump | Morning Musings

you be the judge. Okay so here’s a story of a person that might be too loyal or stupid or perhaps something else.

My uncle inherited a family business, a tile and gravestone factory. Back in the day around the 90’s there were around 40 workers. The business was first managed by my late grandfather and it was thriving. All of the workers were young folks in their 20’s and often single. Their perks of working was a meal 2x/day as well as a board room if their house was far away. Some of them worked with my grandfather until they got married and had a family. Then around the 2000s, my grandfather passed. Some of them resigned and since my uncle inherited it, the business didn’t do really well. It was stagnant and I don’t know what happened but one by one, all the workers left. Some even opened their own store and got successful selling and making the same thing.

Long story short, only one person remained. It’s safe to say that he has worked with the family for over 29 years and even more. Sometimes I wondered how much he was getting paid but a few months ago, I heard that daily he got paid around $3-4 working from 9AM to 5PM. He has a family and strangely, he got by and I don’t even know the reason he worked with my uncle. If he was being rational about his needs and in this economy, he would have left and worked elsewhere. I mean,$95 is too little because I know my uncle couldn’t afford to pay more since the business didn’t do really well either.

Does he do that because it was a hobby and passing the time? From the looks of it, he first owned cycle and had to travel for more than 30 minutes to reach the place, then these days he has a motorbike but an old styled one. I still don’t know what’s his motivation and while a lot of his peers have owned similar things and did so well, he stayed with my family. During certain holidays he’s usually given bonuses as well as daily needs. But even then, I don’t even know anybody that in this today’s age would be willing to work like him.

Did he do that out of loyalty because perhaps back in the day, my grandfather had helped him? beats me but even then, is it worth it sacrificing years of your life doing the same thing and getting paid so little?

I thought about that today because I saw him and it crossed my mind on how long he has worked in the family. I just don’t get it when someone doesn’t have a lot of aspirations to better their life. Honestly, just like how my uncle only took the business seriously in recent years. He started investing in it a little and every now and then, I am seeing him make sales. There are some improvements that can be made especially with the sign of the business. It was not too apparent and hasn’t been changed since the 90’s somehow it also affected me because whenever there’s a package, they have to go around the circle just to find the store. So, one of the things I can do is improve the google map and its online presence & I already did it.

I don’t know if that was stupidity but after having a little conversation with my mom, I think some people just love the comfort of doing the same routine. Besides, these people are also seasonal farmers with an extra income. I think older people also have different types of outlook in life, unlike younger generations where I normally see them jumping from one place to another.

I do admire when people have that kind of loyalty. In today’s age, it’s hard to find someone who is willing to work in the same place for years without ever thinking of quitting. Perhaps it’s just us, the younger generation who needs a lot more things and that we just have different ways of growing up that make us want more things in life.

I was supposed to be talking more but I am done with my morning coffee. See you tomorrow morning...