Another day, another job over

‘He’s on his way back home...the job was too much. There was nowhere to sit, he had to lift things all day, and has a sore back,’ said Mum.

It was 5pm. I had barely walked in her door. In fact, I hadn’t; I was still standing in the slum alleyway outside her place when she saw me, and started to unload.

Another job over - and this one didn’t even last eight hours. How did we get to this?

Seven hours earlier, I turned up at their place to usher Ball and his girlfriend Jay to work.

I took with me a Chinese fish ball meal (similar to khanom jeen) for the pair to eat before they left home.

A man in a cart sold them outside my condo. I had not seen him before, as I rarely venture out that way before evening.

On this day, however, I wanted to buy Ball and Jay a treat. They were about to start in new jobs, and should have something to fill their tummies first.

It’s just as well I bought them some food: when I turned up at Mum’s place, I saw she had prepared nothing for them to eat.

About 9am, khanom jeen in hand, I joined Mum in her sitting room to await the arrival from upstairs of Mr Ball.

The pair was due at work less than two hours later.

Outside, it was raining heavily.

‘They will probably go to work on the family motorcycle,’ said Mum.

‘If it’s too wet, I will put them in a taxi,’ I said.

When I arrived, girlfriend Jay had just taken a shower. Fifteen minutes later, Ball followed.

He looked chirpy, as if he was looking forward to his new job. He said nothing as he passed me between the stairs and shower.

It’s as if he expects me to be present; or maybe he is irritated by my presence, but is too polite, or accepting to let it show.

Ball and Jay started their first day of work yesterday selling books/newspapers at local department stores.

They applied for jobs at a company which runs stalls there.

The company put them in different locations, as it won’t allow boyfriends and girlfriends to work together.

Jay was assigned to work at a store in Rama 4; Ball, at the same store, only a different branch, on Rama 3.

After what seemed like an age, Ball finished his shower. As they dressed, I heard him and Jay chatting excitedly upstairs.

Twenty minutes later, he re-appeared downstairs, wearing black and white.

This is the standard uniform for sales staff. However, several months had passed since Ball last wore those pants.

His boxers spilled over the back, poking out under his white shirt, as his pants were too tight.

Ball yanked on them, but they would not rise any higher.

‘Drinking too much beer has made him fat, so he longer fits into his pants,’ his Mum told me the previous week.

‘However, I will wait a while before buying him any new ones, as he may not last in the job.’

That was sensible, given the events which would follow. However, for girlfriend Jay, Mum spent B1,000 buying two sets of work clothes.

She looked lovely when she descended the stairs, but said little.

Mum gave them a cellphone each to take to work, with a new phone number. She rents the devices from a local company.

‘They need phones to contact each other, or call home when they finish work,’ said Mum.

Half an hour later, it was time to go. Mum gave me Ball’s number, which I stored in my own cellphone.

I accompanied the young couple out to the family motorbike. Ball was driving. He was to take Jay to work first, and double back to Rama 3 to his own workplace.

Ball gave me a smile.

‘Good luck!’ I said.

Such promising beginnings. The same evening, before I left for work, I dropped in to Mum’s place, when she told me the unwelcome news that both Ball and Jay had decided to quit.

‘They are on their way back. Jay called asking for Ball’s number. A few minutes later, Ball called saying they had quit their jobs,’ said Mum.

I waited for the pair’s arrival.

Ball and Jay must have decided that he would do all the talking, as Jay just sat on the floor, saying nothing.

This is becoming a pattern: whenever this couple has bad news for Mum, Ball is always the one who breaks it to her. His girlfriend stays silent.

‘There was nowhere to sit, and I had to ask permission whenever I wanted to visit the toilet,' said Ball.

'At the start of work each day, we have to lug all the books and magazines out, and at the end of trade take them back again. I have a sore back and feet,’ he complained.

’You should have stayed on in your old job as a security guard,’ replied Mum, who said she would call his old boss to see if he could carry on working there.

‘What did your boss say when you told him you were quitting?’ I asked Ball.

‘He didn’t – I just walked out, without telling him,’ he said.

Ball did the same thing in his last job. When he grew tired of working as a security guard, he simply failed to return the next day.

His boss was none the wiser until he called his mother and asked where Ball had gone.

Thais are such a casual bunch, Ball will probably get back his old job as a security guard in Silom regardless.

We don’t yet know what to do about Jay. When Mum suggested she apply for work at the local 7-11 branch, she poo-pooed the idea.

‘I suspect Jay didn’t like the job at the department store, and called Ball to persuade him to quit too,’ grumbled Mum.

Mum, however, wasn’t about to challenge her about it. It’s just not the way things are done.

Last night about 10pm, work over for the day, I dropped in on my way home. Ball and Jay were playing with the kids. Mum had gone out to play HiLo, in the hope of raising money to keep the family going.

‘Have you eaten?’ I asked Ball.

‘Yes,’ he said politely.

‘Have you had a drink?’ I asked, referring to a beer I bought him earlier.

‘Yes,’ he said, laughing.

‘See you tomorrow.’

I am faithful, if nothing else. In the near future, nothing is likely to get better in this household, and yet still I persevere.

Why? The young are stupid because of their youth, no matter how hopeless their circumstances.

Maybe, one day, I will wake up and find everything has changed.

It’ll take a while. Perhaps that’s what families are for...we just wait, and hope for something better to pay us a visit.