Perspective
The schoolboy looked on as the man, who seems to be in his mid-20s boarded the bus. He was in his business shirt and worn a tie smartly, talking on the handphone to a seemingly potential client as he sat opposite the schoolboy. The schoolboy could hear bits and pieces of his conversation, something about prices and quotas.Their gazes met suddenly and the schoolboy turned away sharply. He had not realized he had been staring at this young man since he boarded the bus. His focus turned to the events that had been happening recently.
The schoolboy could still remember the harsh words from his teacher. It is not the first time he had been warned about his poor academic results. His teacher had warned him repeatly that if his grades continued to be this poor, he might just drop out of school. Even his mother had been equally harsh, always saying how bleak his future will be if this continues.
To the schoolboy, this man is everything he had hoped for in the future. Holding a desk-bound job in an air-con office, wearing smartly at work and talking and negotiating with clients and feeling... important. He knew that this reality is virtually impossible for him. He just has no interest in his studies and had contemplated quitting a couple of times already. Afterall this is not the first time he is repeating his Secondary 3 education. But he knew if he really does quit, there is no way he can compete with the other people in the society in the future.
The schoolboy was so deep in his thoughts that he had not realized that he had reached his stop. He clumsily picked up his books and bag and alighted the bus hurrily.
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The young man watched on in amuse as the schoolboy who seemed to be in his daydream suddenly jerked up and ran out of the bus. That was a little something to smile about after a very bad day at work. He had been talking to this very difficult client of his whom had been trying to cut the price initally agreed. On top of that, his boss has been pressurizing him about his sales target this month. The outside world had been much more difficult than he thought.
Watching the schoolboy brought back a lot of his fond memories of when he was still schooling. Although his results have been far from being exceptional, he still did enough to get into a local polytechnic. He remembered having a lot of fun in his school days, the days where he wouldn't need to worry where his next bowl of rice is coming from. The days where no one will be pushing him for results everyday.
True, studying wasn't exactly fun. But it was much better than being a working adult. In fact he had talked about this very often to his peers. How he hoped he could reverse back time and go back to his school days. How he hoped he can escape from this reality he is in now. It would really be fun if he could just switch with that schoolboy for just a day. These memories of his school days immediately brightened up his day. Perhaps, tomorrow will be a better day.
With a smile on his face, he slowly dozed off as the bus continued its journey into the night.
posted by malmoncolo @ 2:00 AM
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