上班族必備軟實力

[Richard has been living well in Taiwan since the late 90s.]

The cardboard lady collects material to recycle and pushes a little cart up and down her neighborhood streets in Taipei. She slowly goes about her task of collecting material for recycling, and by evening she has a lot of it. I can’t imagine that she gets much money for it, but at least it is not heavy. Her back is bent and she is extremely old, but day in and day out, she works. There are many like her all around the city.

There is a cardboard man, too. He peddles his overloaded bicycle slowly across busy intersections with impatient drivers lined up behind him. Somehow this old and frail person has the strength to propel his little bike, piled high with broken down paper boxes, down busy streets and over the hills of his neighborhood.

Pick up and recycle.

Even though Taiwan has a high standard of living, there are other struggling people in the neighborhood. Some get paid a little bit to haul trash to the trucks that drive by every day. And then there are those that don’t appear to do anything but sleep on benches or sidewalks.

You have to wonder what bad things have happened in their lives. (I used to tell my kids that these are the people who didn’t do their homework.) In reality though, I am fortunate not to be in their position. Things could have been different but for a slight change in temperature, a fever dream, or the papery swish of a butterfly wing. There but for mysterious grace go I.

I’m counting my blessings. Thank you for reading