My Weekend

There goes another weekend. I was doing what I have been doing for over a year now during weekends: cleaning the local hospital. It is a part-time job I took to help with my bills. Of course, being a PhD student, I have my ridiculous proud. I didn’t really feel good about it at all in the beginning. I was even reluctant to tell people there that I was doing a PhD.

Things change. Surprisingly, I found myself quite well suited in this job. It is peaceful. I don't have to struggle with difficult questions there. Just simple sweeping and mopping are keeping everybody happy. Nurses can be rough but most people are very nice. Patients always appreciate my work. Moreover, I always take lots of funny stories back to my house. There are funny things around. Like today, one of the good looking charge nurses has been promoted to matron. One of the patients has been singing with another tone all day. I am actually having fun working there sometime.

Well, the only problem we cleaners have is to get over the hospital in the morning. We all have our magic. Some share a cab. Some get a lift. Just by chance, a very nice Spanish lady started to give me a lift. Actually, her daughter drives. She is a very nice and beautiful woman. It is never boring in the car. She always has lots to tell. To be honest, as the car is nosy and I am not quite used to her accent sometime, I will normally lost about eighty percent of her story. I will then just keep smiling and nodding and repeating: ‘is it’. It works like a charm. Hope she never finds out. I can’t thank both of them enough.

When I am back to home, it is the boring bit. I am normally too tired to do anything. Now it is Sunday night and I am just annoyed that I will have to go to university to teach tomorrow knowing it is going to be raining heavily.

Over Gary's

It is 3:49 am. I am here at Gary’s to help him with some of his work. He is in bed now and will have to go to work at 6 am. The silly man just got married to an amazing girl. Every single one of us agrees that she is way out of his touch. I haven’t met Michelle, his wife, that many times but I’ve heard a lot about her, either from Gary or from the gossipy Chinese student community. She is very independent girl from a big family. Being rich back in China, she is determined to fight for a career here in London. It was actually quite a story. After Gary and Michelle graduated from Warwick, she only managed to find a position in a marketing firm with no basic salary but commissions. What she was doing was standing in the shopping mall and trying to sell insurance policies or other products of that sort to people walking around. Yes, we all know she was the kind of people we don’t even bothered to say no to while enjoying our precious time spending money that we haven’t earn yet. It was really tough for her of course. The newly graduated Chinese girl didn’t back out at all. Not even after Gary had tried hundreds of times asking her taking an easier road, which always ended up in family crisis as Gary would say. She said she’d carry on because she thought she can learn something. I actually wasn’t so convinced of that but no one could argue with her. She wasn’t doing so great at the beginning though. For mouths, she only managed to do a few deals, each of which only got 20 pound commission. The two had to struggle with Gary’s wage in London. She started to do better later but the reward was still pathetic.

One day, she was still doing her usual selling in a shopping mall and was still full of energy as always. She walked up to a woman and started her routine of persuading. Luckily, this woman appeared to be interested and stayed to listen. While she thought there was another 20 pound almost secured, the woman gave her a business card and said: You are actually very good. Why don’t you come and work for me? And there you go. She is still working in the new company that is much better and actually pays a reasonable wage. I never thought it would work out for her but it just did. I found myself have to admire her for that.

Well, that is just some story I thought I will keep telling for a long time. In order to make a better life, the couple do some causal work as well and that is what I am here to help. I had to finish it quick as I will have my thesis left to finish so I am working nights today. I actually enjoy working nights. It is so quite and I can concentrate so well despite the fact that I am exhausted. The instant cappuccino from Kenko wasn’t so tasty at all. The foam had such a dry taste and I almost felt disgusting after two cups. But I think I am almost done for tonight.

Darkness of the night always brings up the feeling of loneliness in me. Gary was lucky but I never have luck. Thinking of it, I should have saved some luck for not buying lotto for 26 years. I wonder when and how I can redeem it. And now it hits me that I still owe the newly wedded couple a wedding gift. I will need to give it some thought.