what have i done for a living? well, to put it more accurately, what jobs have i not done?
my first real job ~ an activity that earn money, that is, was carrying bricks to its ‘tungku’ when i was around 10. by today’s standard, my employer would be in deep trouble for hiring a ‘child labour’. but to me, it was fun carrying some 5 bricks at a time to its ‘roasting place’ for few hours after school. i earned around 500 rupiah, which was good back then. i had, as people now said, a financial freedom when i was only 10. cool!
luckily – or unluckily, my father found out about it, and quickly pulled me out from my first job and asked me to concentrate on school instead. ‘i still can feed you’ he said.
in returns, he asked me to help him in his bookshop. i did unwillingly, and it wasn’t fun at all for me. the reason being, he did not give me any money for the ‘sales assistant’ job i excellently did.
after a while, i grew up and spent most of my adolescence years helping my father in his bookshop. in fact, right before i finish high school my father got sick and unable to work. i ended up being the sole operator, general manager of our only business for a couple of years. my sister was in university, both brothers still in school.
but it was not long, because i still like college, i didn’t really work full time. i split my time between classes and opening the shop. and as it turned out, the shop went down in sales because it was only half open during the day. customers ran way and we went almost bankrupt. gratefully, we had an uncle who really take care of our financial matters, including when i decided to pursue my studies in another city/country.
in retrospect, i thank my father for putting me in the bookshop. i am enjoying the greatest happiness now for being able to love books and reading. otherwise, i will just be ‘eating’ bricks…
Originally published on luqyantamanni.wordpress.com, August 4, 2007: view original.
