Letter of the week

SELF MADE MAN Every morning, there is an old man with his small boat who vigorously collects shellfish from the canal behind my house. He seems nearly 60 years old, but he’s still strong and healthy. I really like his career because it doesn't involve the need to struggle with others. It depends on shellfish in the canal and his own vitality. Whenever there is a lot of shellfish, he will get more money. But if there isn't much shellfish, he won't earn much. Whenever he wants more money, he works harder and longer than on other days. But whenever he's tired or doesn't need as much money, he can finish work early and rest. Nisfu Sa-I, Pattani That sounds like kind of a hard life to me, Nisfu. But you're right, there definitely is something to be said for being your own boss. Sometimes it's nice to not have to depend on anybody else for your livelihood. But remember that that man still has to depend on other people. He has to worry about the price that he can get for his shellfish. He's at the mercy of what the customers might be willing to pay, and also what to do if nobody wants to buy his wares. There's not a lot of security. He's at the mercy of the weather, the water and whether or not he can gather enough to support himself. All of that said, I think that it's quite admirable to earn a living in that way. Thank you for telling us about him. — Editor

 

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TIMES ARE CHANGING

I'm a Matayom 3 student in Bangkok. I'm writing this email to you because I don’t know what to do.

My friends asked me to join the Matayom 3 farewell party, but I don’t want to go because the plan keeps changing.

At first, I agreed to join them because we have been close friends since we were in Matayom 1. I wanted to do it for old time's sake. A week later, they postponed the meeting because one of my friends had to go upcountry. A week later, they changed the date and place again.

Now I am really bored. I don’t want to join, but I'm afraid that my friends will be upset.

Pimolwan Siriparu,
Bangkok

I might not be the best person to ask about this Pimolwan. I get very impatient when I have to deal with other people's inability to follow through with plans. I usually give people a couple of chances before I just cancel. I find it rude and disrespectful to keep changing plans. But remember that it's not easy to organise a large group of people, so you might want to cut them some slack. If it were me, I'd give them a deadline to set up the meeting. Tell them that after a certain date, you just won't be available anymore. That way, if they really want you to join them, they know what they have to do and how long they have to do it. Good luck. — Editor

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RELATION FRUSTRATION

I am moving to Grade 6 next year. I have a question to ask you.

Now that it's school holiday, my parents would like me to stay with my relatives somewhere outside Bangkok. But I don’t really want to because I am not so close to them. What should I do?

Pornlapat,
Bangkok

I think you need to be honest with your parents, Pornlapat. Explain to them how you feel and why you feel that way — they might not know that you're stressed about this. They might have some very good reasons why they'd like you to spend time with your relatives. Also keep in mind that it might be a really good experience for you, and you might have fun, getting to know your family. As far as I'm concerned, you can never have too much family — unless you all live together all the time. That's actually kind of terrible. But I digress. You need to be open to the possibilities presented by new experiences. None of us really likes change, but you need to at least be willing to try new things. Maybe you can make a deal with your parents. Tell them that you're willing to go, but if you don't like it, you want to be the one to decide when it's time to come home. You can even tell them that it was my idea, so if they get angry they can blame it on me and not you. Good luck. — Editor

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