Translated…
Mary is the Thai migrant worker at our office, she’s good-natured and optimistic, everybody loved her. Recently, she’d added me on Facebook, and, every time I’d posted something, she’d given me a kudos; once I’d asked her on purpose, “Mary, do you know what I’m writing about?”, she’d replied, “5555555. (Thai for lol)” The very next day, she’d told me, she’d understood, that there’s, translations! Oh, I was, too dumb to know.
On a certain day, Mary flashed her son’s photo on her cell, it was, a healthy adolescent, she’d told me proudly, “Look, my son is sixteen, and already 5’8.” As I’d inquired about the father of her son, she’d spoken plainly, that she’d divorced, a long time ago. “Oh, why did you get divorced?”, seeing how Mary didn’t mind sharing, I’d prodded her.
“Because he found a younger girl, you know, a lot of men in Thailand are like that!”, Mary shook her head, and the indifferent tone she’d taken, was as if she was talking about something unrelated to herself. I’d smiled and nodded, I’d wanted to tell Mary, that not just the men in Thailand, a lot of men would, carelessly, “make the mistake of the common man”.
We’d talked to a former Thai worker, who’d met a cab driver, she’d married him, and became, a foreign bride. I’d asked Mary if she wanted to find someone here to marry too? Mary frowned and told, “How? It’s so hard, the rich ones don’t want me, say that I’m too fat, they’d wanted the babes.” Mary gestured to her own figure, continued, “I don’t want the men who aren’t rich, so, what am I to do? Oh well then, I shall, rely on myself.” I was humored by how Mary made fun of herself, and what was bugging me from before, are all gone instantly.
Mary had, bravely spoken of a lot of the thoughts that many of us didn’t dare speak out about, I’d recalled the words of the editor-in-chief for the long-time concern toward the migrant worker’s periodical, “The Angles”, Chang’s words, “why not marry for money? So long as it’s agreed upon by both individuals…does it make marrying for love, for sex, for citizenship statuses, for the sake of having babies, is it, more noble? Is there, not the least kind of calculations?”
I can’t help, but give Mary’s bravery and honesty thumbs up, and I need to thank her, for brighten up my day too.
So, this migrant worker can talk about what happened to her in marriage, how her husband cheated on her, because she’d worked through the emotions, and, she’d left her home country to work here, and, she’s very independent, raising her son up all by herself. It’s hard to see a woman who would use her own life’s example, to help others laugh about their predicaments in life.
Life, the Obstacle Course 