Friday, August 25, 2006

The Dream Merchant

This Indian old man,
without fail, every morning,
I see him at my favourite coffee shop.
Wearing a pair of old glasses,
a worn out of long sleeve shirt,
a pair of neatly ironed long pants,
and a pair of rubber slippers.
That has been his trademark for many years.

"Sir, next draw 6 Millions" he said.
3 ringgits for a shot at 6 million ringgits ?
why not ?
Every morning, with his warm smiles,
he managed to make me part away with 3 ringgits
When he walked away from my table to the next,
I see his frailed frame teasing my foolishness.
A one in a million chance to strike a lottery !
an educated man betting on the science of probability.....

But old man
3 ringgits is a small insignificant money to me.
I am just a sucker for watching your salesmanship
For everyday, I learn a lesson from you.......
In your unassuming presence,
you have taught me not to take things for granted.
you have taught me perseverance to close a sale
you have taught me patient,
you have taught me value added services,
you have taught me how to smell opportunities,
you have taught me the power of determinations.
you have taught me to see the beauties in routiness,
you have taught me......

Old man,
do you know ?
In peddling your lottery tickets,
you are selling hopes.
You are the dream merchant.
With every three ringgit you collected,
you are giving everyone
a chance to look forward to tomorrow !

But old man,
I sought not riches, fame, or glory...
In my heart, I wish you good health,
so that you can come back every morning.
I do not wish to see your face dissapeared from me......
if that happened, I know,
my morning coffee will not be the same again.

God bless you, old man !
You have a good day ahead.

2 comments:

Soul_Voice said...

Friend,
Not many people in this world will wait for you everday to give you hope. It makes you happy right by parting your RM3.00, you gave him hope as well.
I think the next time around you see him, you should give him all the well wishing words you have written here.
With blessings and hope.

Soul_Voice said...

And where is Journeyman?
We are hoping to see him too....hahahha!
Looks like he is not giving us much hope for hoping to see him leh!