“ Thanks .”
They ’ re nice people , good people , but in the end nobody is ever actually going to do anything for the poor . I ’ m not necessarily poor myself , but I have known poverty very well , and I can say with confidence that people would almost always rather sit down and relax than actually do something to help . It ’ s just too easy to ignore , and I see it every day . Shanghai has now not only attracted rich foreigners to start and grow companies , but it has brought in many wounded soldiers and refugees running from their homes because of war or conflict , and even though they are suffering terrible fates , people will always turn their backs on them . No matter what . And I ’ m not being cynical , I know about the good people and the kind people , but let ’ s be honest , everyone will always look up at them , nod in appreciation , and walk away , silently thanking them for doing a job they didn ’ t want to do . But that ’ s just the world we live in . Just the way it is .
After a left turn we head to a museum full of animals held in suspension and many strange medical instruments . There are glass boxes containing strange animals I didn ’ t even know existed , and they were standing completely still . Woah , wat a spectacle . I ’ ve always found medicine extremely interesting , the way humans adapt and create different tools to deal with the challenges of nature . I truly believe there is something philosophical about medicine . I might ’ ve become a doctor , help people on a daily basis , do something different each day , and receive enough money to send to my mother , the one person I truly need to save . But that ’ s not for me I guess . The only way to cope with this is to think that I ’ m destined to do what I do , to talk about Shanghai . Maybe being a doctor would have done more harm than good , who knows . But it ’ s still difficult not to imagine , not to dream about what it would ’ ve been like . Huh . I wish I ’ d studied more as a kid , I wish I had better priorities . The majority of people I meet think I was just a dumb kid , but it couldn ’ t be farther away from the truth . When I was a kid my father wanted me to work from a young age , doing small chores around stores and restaurants to earn money . I guess these small jobs evolved into me becoming a tourist guide , somehow . As a kid all I wanted to do was make my father proud , and I guess this is my way to do it . I ’ ve always been working , never stopped and never will . I work to live , not live to work .
As the guide to the city closes to an end , I bring the couple back to the center and kindly ask for a tip . A tip is the least anyone could do in my opinion . They give me a reasonable tip and walk off . That ’ s the end of the first part of the day , now I ’ m off to my second job , factory work . The most repetitive and monotonous job I ’ ve ever even heard of . All I do is bring boxes filled with components for I don ’ t know what from one part of the factory to the other . Same track , same path , same boxes . All day , every day . Now tell me I don ’ t give everything for my family .
I get to the factory late as usual , and I apologize to my boss , as usual . “ You ’ re Late !” “ Yes I know , but it takes me a while to get here ” “ That ’ s no excuse , you ’ re lucky you even have this job , now get to work !”
He ’ s not a bad person necessarily , he just likes work done . And who can blame him , he simply wants our sector to do well enough to be promoted and leave to a better place . He ’ s waiting for the day he finally says goodbye , just like me . That ’ s why I can understand him , and why I try to get along with him . When I get through the gates I greet with a nod the old and wrecked factory I have to work at . The dark brittle wood barely holding up a roof that looked like it was about to collapse at any moment , the workers assembling , disassembling and carrying pieces around to create our product , which I honestly still don ’ t know exactly what it is . Rows and rows of worktables for the staff to work on , filled with cuts and chips and enough history it could be told in a lifetime . I walked in and went to my table and asked what I needed to do , and I did , like always .
After I finished working I signed the leave and ticket 21 st of January on the factory calendar , of which we had only one . I was in charge of it , and that ’ s the most I ’ ve ever been in control of in my life . I ’ ve never really had much control over what I have , nevertheless I don ’ t have that much to care for . All I have is my work and my mom .
As I approach the street to home I start thinking about intelligence . What it means , what it means for me . I started thinking about that because I ’ ve never necessarily thought of myself as a smart person , not in the traditional sense at least , and definitely not an educated one , but that wasn ’ t because of me . I had to work , and I still do , but the strange thing is that I don ’ t really regret not being able to go to school , to learn like all the other kids and become a doctor . Maybe that ’ s because these small jobs , this boring work I do all day long gives my life purpose , it gives it meaning . Granted , I don ’ t like what I do . Actually I hate it , but I love thinking that doing this is something , that doing this saves someone ’ s life somewhere else , and that what I do is important in my own little world . And that makes me happy , actually no , that makes me satisfied . And I think that is a real demonstration of intelligence . Sure , I don ’ t know how to take the derivative of a function , but I know how to appreciate something I hate doing , and loving my life , and that is more valuable than all of the Nobel prizes in the world to me .