I wrote about the retired taxi driver whom I accidentally met in small the mountain in the previous article.
The retired taxi driver and I talked about health issues during our walks in the hill. The 66 year-old retiree told me about his wife who works part time. She needs to have a knee surgery but no trouble cooking and doing other house chores. Instead of having a surgery, she regularly asks her married daughter for a ride to the shop once a week. He needs regular exercises to maintain his health, so he takes a walk alone to the hill almost every day.
I told him about my 63-year-old husband who was suffered from heart attack, brain stroke, asthma, and high blood pressure. Going up in the hill or long walks are not my husband's cup of tea.
The 66 year-old ex-taxi driver had a hard of time hearing and he did not use any hearing aid. He asked me to speak loudly. I didn't quite feel good when he took my hand to try to walk on a slippery road to show me something. If I slipped, it would be a disaster to my $1,000 Nikon SLR camera with long lens.
I had the same experience with him. I had been terribly lonely until my husband retired one year ago. Most of the time I used to be alone at home, so when he persistently asked me my mobile phone number, I reluctantly gave him my number at the end of year 2015. At the same time, I asked him to find another friends in the hill. I recommended other men his age.
Then, he started calling me. His first call was on Jan. 7, the second on Jan. 14, the third on Jan. 15, the fourth on Feb. 6, and the fifth on Feb. 23. I never took any of his calls. By doing so I thought he would give up calling me.
It reminded me of my mother. She had been sick in bed for more than 10 years until she passed away last summer. When she felt lonely, she used to call her friends to talk. She also made her own rule that if she calls her friends three times and she doesn't get any reply, then she will no longer call them. My mother used to say "They are too busy to answer my phones or they are not interested in talking to me." Obviously my mother didn't have any intention to disturb their activities.
As I was brought up by my mother who used to think like that, I was upset when I noticed the taxi driver's sixth call last Mar. 2. I thought it was the time to take his call. Finally I told him, "Please don't call me anymore because my husband doesn't want me to talk to you. It is not very proper for both of us." Then he said, "Thank you for responding my call at last. Well, I understand."
I didn't want to say this kind of negative thing, which leads someone to be unhappy and that was the reason I didn't take any of his calls. However, he was not sensible enough to understand what I meant.
His seventh call came last Mar. 7. Then, I set up my mobile phone to block his number.
Talking about my mobile phone, I have to pay 20 yen or 20 cents to send one text message, I also have to pay 20 yen to receive one text message. If I had sent my message earlier, this persistent man could have send me thousands of text messages. I don't want to pay for those uninformative ones.
Sometimes my husband and I call some people who enjoy birdwatching together. We ask them if they have seen some migratory birds these days. They are informative, but we don't call them more than twice. We have been trying to check their blogs so as not to disturb them.
He said earlier that he lives on his pension. He has registered to a local senior citizen's temporary job placement office which regularly offers him chances to work. However, he hated being ordered around. He wanted to act out of his own free will.
He takes the job only when he is asked to get rid of unwanted grasses in the houses. Some house owners are too busy to weed their garden, so they ask the office to send some workers to remove grasses. He accepts this kind of job because he likes gardening stuff. Unfortunately, grasses don't grow in winter season, so he seems to be working on nothing these days.
He told me that he smokes two packs of cigarette every day. I think that it costs him 1,000 yen or $10 every day, which could total up to 30,000 yen or $300 monthly. That is too much for his living expenses.
Has he ever thought that his wife is happy to pay for his cigarettes and his meeting a married woman while his wife is working? I would kick him out of the house if he were my husband. Also, I thought if he could give up smoking, he can afford to pay for a hearing aid.
I hope spring comes soon so that grasses grow rapidly and he may find his opportunities to work.
My sister-in-law lives in the neigbhorhood, and she would not think it's appropriate for me to meet a married man, just two of us, meeting.
I had the same experience in the past, but I have been lucky that I take RJ lessons to have someone to talk to.
I had the same experience in the past, but I have been lucky that I take RJ lessons to have someone to talk to.
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