let lemons be angry

the juice bar project.

A month ago, I thought I'd try out a different life for kicks and document it seriously. That never worked out for whatever reason. But here I am in this random job that I scored randomly at the indian wedding, and it has turned out to be a very different life indeed.

Left on my own, this would have been one of the last jobs i'd have chosen. Not the number one unchosen job though, that would go to frying fishcakes or selling crocs. But it ranks up there.

But all the reasons I wouldn't have chosen this job have turned out to be the reasons I love it now.

1. The uniform. Yes, so I'm not lounging around in my own clothes or better in some boutique. But I like feeling spare and unglam and anonymous, at least while I'm behind the counter.

2. The aunties. They're all about my mother's age or older and speak to me in chinese. So I don't have someone my age to go for breaks and gossip with, but I really like my juice aunties. They talk about me admiringly when they think I'm too busy to listen, and keep wondering what fruits to pack for "mei mei" (me). They can't spell or read english, but they're smart little ladies who enjoy their life of cutting fruits and mixing with the yakun toast aunties.

3. Accounting. I was the one who kept failing AO maths. But here I am closing the accounts every night and making accurate counts of dollars and notes, and filling in various forms to be filed in different files. I'm very satisfied with myself. It goes to show that primary school maths is all that's really needed. Every time i work the cash register, I see those coin diagrams in my head, the primary school workbook ones that split $1 into drawings of coins of different values.

4. The night shift. Nobody wants the night shift, but i love the departmental store at closing time. All the workers change out of their uniforms and suddenly they're transformed into your typical mango and zara shoppers. The whole place is dark and strangely exciting as i rush to clear out my locker. That's the success of the store i suppose. Even the workers never get bored of the place they work in or the food that's sold around them.


Sometimes it gets a little bit lonely. Being surrounded by masses of happy people in their going-out moods is not always uplifting. All I can comfort myself with is the fact that this is just a temporary job, a Project, and I can go back to my bustling lazy nightlife anytime I want. My aunties, on the other hand, will never leave this life.