Mowing grass..

Speech Day but these days they call it Hari Anugerah Cemerlang! So there has been a flurry of activities. Surroundings being spruced up, drains washed, walls painted, uniformed bodies practicing their marches, the kompang team perfecting their beats, sound system being tested, repeated rehearsals so that each prize winner gets it right, etc.
Was up in the class. I thought some of the students might be involved in the preparations, so I decided to give written work today....loads of them. They were complaining, of course. It was a good thing cos right after I finished giving the instructions, the sounds of the handheld mowers kicked in. You can never win against a machine. The sound will drown your voice and if you try to shout above it, you'll be in for a sore time later.

Anyway, since the students were busy writing, I took a few peeks at the mowing. I've always liked the smell of cut grass and the sight of a recently cut lawn. It's kinda neat. I was on the second floor, so I had a really good view of the grass cutters.

There were two of them. One was probably in his 30s or early 40s. The other guy was probably in his early or mid 50s. Anyway, as I watched I noticed that the younger guy was swinging his mower faster. Of course, there is nothing like the raw power of youth! His reach was wider too. In no time, he had cleared the area of a netball court. The older guy could not swing his cutter as fast and his reach was narrower. As I stood there and watched, I noticed that in the time that it took the younger guy to clear the area of a netball court, the older guy cleared slightly less than 3/4 of the younger guy did. And he did an area with grass which was not so dense!

My attention was diverted for a while as I got back to my students. When I next took a peek, about 40 minutes had passed. The younger guy was still going strong....I had to look around for the older guy...he was at the far end of the small field. He was still mowing but he was stopping after every few swings. And his swings were erratic and inconsistent. I could see that he was tired.

Both guys worked together to clear that small field this morning but the older guy was not able to keep up with the younger one.

Jobs which require manual labour is just that...it is labour intensive. You have to have the strength and fitness. But one thing, we cannot defy is age...all of us are worn down by time. As our strength fails with our age and the aches set in, it will definitely have an effect on us and our ability to make our living.

I used to know this air-con service man. He was good at what he did. But at around the age of 40+, one day, as he serviced my air-con, he told me that he was selling his business. I asked why and he said he was getting too old for that sort of job. He said he cannot be climbing roofs and carrying air-cons at his age. It was getting too stressful and dangerous for him. He had had a couple of close shaves and he felt he had enough of them. He said he was going into the insurance business. He said he was thankful that at least he had a choice because he had some education. Last I heard he was doing quite well. But the elderly grass mower I saw in this morning obviously did not have that choice. He will still continue mowing grass for a living.