This morning, I made a salad sandwich with - erk - white bread.
My health is suffering, as Steve Jobs's finances improve. Computer geeks have turned a generation of young people into drones...spending their days bent over cellphones.
Maiyuu spends most of his time in his room in a cloud of cigarette smoke, where he can shut the door and play with his I-phone in peace.
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A moment ago, I saw Maiyuu take a welder to the inside of his computer. The CD drive is sticky, so he has taken apart the 'tower' (I'm told the word 'hard drive' is wrong) with a screwdriver and is now rooting around back there with a welder.
Why the frenetic activity? Maiyuu has been downloading CDs on to his I-Phone. He can't do it if the CD drive is stuck, so he needs to find a solution.
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'What do you want to do today?' I asked Maiyuu hesitantly. 'Would you like to go for a swim with me?'
I say hesitantly, because Maiyuu does not like me asking that question. To his mind, I am implying that he wastes his days doing nothing.
'No...I might start baking,' he said, looking glum.
Ah! Maybe he is about to start baking for the woman who runs the coffee shop in town, who has agreed to take his baking for sale in his shop.
No wonder he looks depressed - Maiyuu does not like working, or at any rate would rather just play with his cellphone all day.
Just light another cigarette, boy, and take it easy.
The farang will go out to work, even if your own effort is half-hearted. Someone has to make money to pay the bills, after all.
12 comments:
ReplyDeleteLino -still Iphone free2 May 2009 at 21:26
Almost everyone I know has one of those things, the novelty wears-off in a week or two.
The problem you might face then is that once it is no-longer the "Apple" of his eye, he might not be so interested in finding ways to pay for it.
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Anonymous3 May 2009 at 01:02
And how is paying for the minutes
or should I say houres that he is on that thing. Also the cigarette smoke has to be payed.
If you realy love this man,( if I am not mistaken he is over thirty years old so he is not a boy anymore) make him go to work!!
Because if he ends up in the gutter you are also partly to blame.
Fryslân.
ReplyDelete
Bkkdreamer3 May 2009 at 06:35
I am to blame, am I?
I give Maiyuu the freedom to manage the finances so he can also learn fnancial and personal responsibility.
Likewise, I do not force him to work - I just apply gentle pressure. He must be the one to decide these things in his life, as he is ultimately responsible for what happens, no one else.
To say I am responsible is patronising. It assumes Thais cannot grow up and work out these decisions for themselves.
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Bkkdreamer3 May 2009 at 06:36
Apparently he does not have to pay for telephone calls. I don't know about internet use.
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Anonymous3 May 2009 at 15:18
You say you are giving him freedom and responsibility, but if you remove any consequences then you really aren't.
If the consequences of him buying the phone are that you have to work more, then he won't learn.
Nobody likes to work. We do it to afford things we want. If he gets the things anyway without working, then its your fault for spoiling him.
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neil3 May 2009 at 17:22
Burn a few meals and make him eat it. Set off the smoke alarms. Make bad tasting food. Scorch a few pans.
Or...
Go out and find a younger boy to just cook food for you.
Might shake his tree and get on the job of taking care of you.
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Was Once3 May 2009 at 17:43
It's sad because he won't be able to return the favor when your time comes.
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Bkkdreamer3 May 2009 at 18:11
According to fellow blogger BB, foreigners like their Thai guys to be child-like and cute. If that's the case, then I suppose we deserve what we get.
It's not my choice, however. Maiyuu has told me he will meet the monthly phone repayments himself, which he can only do by working.
The proposal is that he bakes for a shop in town, and earns money when customers buy it.
I am not willing to let the matter slide...he must work, one way or the other, or I shall take the ATM card back from him and he can end up as powerless and indeed childlike as most other Thais who form relationships with farang.
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Bkkdreamer3 May 2009 at 18:13
Was Once: I suspect Maiyuu will be long dead by the time I retire, even though he is younger. So yes, it is sad that he will never be able to return the favour for me when I can't work any longer.
That's another good reason for him to work now. He can contribute while I am still in the workforce. He might even surprise himself, and end up enjoying it.
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Anonymous3 May 2009 at 19:14
why would he be long dead?
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Bkkdreamer3 May 2009 at 19:19
He doesn't look after himself, and his parents died of cancer in their early 50s.
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Anonymous3 May 2009 at 21:50
Didn't he have cancer at one time too? How is that going?
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