Do you know who this is?
No?
Me neither, because sadly, the media reporting about him didn’t even bother to record his name. But I know what his job is.
The man is swimming in the sewage waters of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He works for the city. His job is to clean up 14 million peoples’ shit. Literally.
He wears no protective clothing, no goggles, and if he doesn’t keep his mouth shut, well… The only ‘safety measure’ taken is the stick his coworkers hold to pull him out with.
For the past four days, I have spent 12–15 hours at school each day, studying for my accounting exam. I have 7 hours to go. It’s my own fault for starting too late, but this subject just bores me to death.
Worse, any current Game Boy can calculate this stuff faster than I, it’s a waste of time to learn.
But here I am, because right now, it’s my job. In the meantime I take joy in the little things I’m still left with:
- My warm and comfy bed every night.
- The music I can listen to while crunching numbers.
- Good food every day.
- All the coffee I get to drink.
Most people don’t think these mean much. But the guy in the sewer would. He doesn’t even get all of these on a good day.
To me, discipline is reducing gratification to a minimum and still being aware that what you get is more than most others have.
My only job is to sit at a desk and learn new things. To train my mind.
For all those who don’t have it so easy, it’s my duty to at least give it all I’ve got.
