“Hello Stranger! Here for your annual visit? ” Ji-ho grinned as he pressed a button to rotate the racks. After a soft whir and swish of plastic sheeting, shirts, dresses, and slacks came to rest, and Ji-ho plucked off the hangers bearing Dave’s clothes.
“How’re things?" I asked.
“Surviving,” he said with a sigh as he handed me a slip and said, “Sign here.”
In the past, I would’ve taken his response as being as reflexive as my habitual question but not now, not given current events.
“Surviving? That doesn’t sound good. What’s up?”
“Since Covid, I’ve lost over half my business. He pressed the button to spin the racks and gestured at an empty stretch. “That never used to happen. The racks were always full.” Together we gazed in discouragement at the span of bare hooks. He continued, “People work from home or go to the office twice a week. They don’t have to dress up anymore, and sweatshirts don’t need dry cleaning.” He smiled ruefully. “And then, there’s people like you. Good customers, but people retire.”
He was right. When Dave and I were working, we’d drop clothes at the dry cleaner every two weeks or so. Ji-ho knew our names, numbers, and addresses; he never had to ask. We’d walk in for a pick-up, he’d see us, smile, and spin the racks to our order. It was nice to have that familiarity.
“So much has happened... since Covid, since Trump. The country’s upended," I said. “My sister called last week, and she’s a mess, furious and nervous, because ICE has leased a facility less than two miles from her house. That’s a whole other horrible situation.”
Ji-ho nodded. “Yeah. Things have changed. People look at me differently. I never got looks like these before.”
“What do you mean ‘looks’?”
“Recently I was at the deli counter at Stop & Shop to get some ham. At first, the person working there pretended not to see me. When I finally forced his attention and asked for Boar’s Head ham, he said, “What? I can’t understand you.”
“So, I repeated myself, but still he snapped that he had no idea what I was saying. That happened a couple more times.”
Ji-ho is Korean, an American citizen, and has owned his business for 26 years. His accent is barely discernible.
He continued. “So. I typed ‘Boar’s Head ham’ on my phone and held it up for the guy to see. He shook his head and said, ‘we don’t have any.’ And of course, they did. I could see it in the case. But I just walked away. Didn’t want to deal with him.”
“Oh Ji-ho. I hate hearing this.”
“Yeah. That never used to happen. Now, my wife and I know we have to be careful.”
We looked at each other sadly. “Can I give you a hug?” I asked.
He hung his head, shuffled around the side of the counter, and I hugged him.
Things have changed. But we can do something about it.
13 comments:
I have been robbed of a lifetime of loving my country since the current clowns appeared on the scene -- ten years ago? So sad. No faith in anything anymore except: When the lead clown drops dead, we will rebuild.
It's all so heartbreaking. How will we ever recover from the damage this regime is doing?
Caring questions; active listening; and a needed hug. You did good, Lea!
Oh, Lea, this broke my heart - and breaks my heart. Such a sad state of affairs. So glad you were there to listen and provide comfort. I am so discouraged by the state of affairs in our country.
Simultaneous sadness and blind rage reading this. I am so appalled at the behavior of these types of people. Because yes, there's a type. The current administration has given these people permission to be the absolute worst version of themselves and be applauded for it. I am so disgusted. I want to march to that deli counter and berate that bigot imbecile. I want to have hope, and, there's just so much damage done and so much backsliding to dark times. I cant wait till hes gone. At least we can begin to move forward.
It's so discouraging. I know we grew up in a beautiful world, in a beautiful place that was mainly safe, and Sio had a rosier view than many people had in our country at that time, but this is destruction of all our values and allegiances. The thing I have faith in is that most people are capable of feeling gratified when they are kind and do good. We have to keep creating opportunities where that is possible. Thanks for that hug, Lea. I felt it too.
Weren't you sweet to hug him. We need all the kindness we can get in this world. I think most of us are traumatized by what's happening everywhere. I can't imagine being of another nationality and trying to survive in this America.
Sadly, only if he takes his sycophants with him. My bet is that when he goes we will see a proliferation of First Church of trump.
Oh Lea, what a soul searing experience for your friend. We expect that here in the birthplace of stupid but not in the land of intelligent thinking, Connecticut. Clearly hatred and stupidity are both contagious and proliferating in a way we cannot fathom.
Exactly... in a way we cannot fathom. My incredulity is as great as my fury, sadness, and worry.
Thank you for sharing this heartbreaking exchange with the hardworking person at the dry cleaners. No one should be treated like this. This helpful person deserves respect and kindness. Your piece raises our awareness of how pervasive the fear and suspicion reaches and the hurt it causes..
It leaves it up to the rest of us to make up for that behavior as best we can through our respect, compassion, and action.
I am so sad. This is not the country I have known for most of my life. I have hope that we can be better, and I hope that happens in my lifetime. Please give Ji-Ho a hug from all of us.
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