Mr. Muhaji : Being friends with someone older than you, why not?

Hello #Hive Lovers...Blessing for all of us.

"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." - Mark Twain

In 2020, I was assigned to Klaten, Central Java, Indonesia. A place I have never visited and I do not know anyone here. It took two days to get here by air flight. Because there were no flights directly from Aceh to Klaten, I took the Aceh Jakarta route, then Jakarta Solo, and finally by car from Solo to Klaten. As well, I was going to an area where Covid 19 was very prevalent at the time and the situation was not very favorable. Upon my arrival in Klaten, I was greeted by an elderly man who will be described further on.

Before actually joining other colleagues in Klaten, I was always with this old man all the time. Let me introduce you. His name is Muhaji. His job is security, who is diligent and disciplined in maintaining the security of our office every day. Even though he was 59 years old at that time and the age between me and his was around 18 years old, physically he was still very fit and agile in doing his work.

Honestly, he really respected my profession at that time and this was clearly visible from his attitude in calling me Sir. He also dreams of having his daughter follow my profession. Sometimes I feel very awkward and tend to be uncomfortable with his attitude. However, he is older than me and I was taught to always respect people who are older than me. The awkwardness lasted approximately two weeks. I try to be as respectful as I can. If there is a chance I make coffee for him and take him out to eat.

He loves farming and that has been a great benefit to this friendship. I also really like agriculture because I am the son of a coffee farmer. Our love for agriculture is a good link in our daily lives. We talked a lot about plants and agricultural products and the lives of farmers who are currently not prosperous. Things started to melt down as time went on. He took me to his house and introduced me to his wife and children who were all married. You should even know that his two sons are older than me.

Every weekend, he often invites me to visit several tourist attractions in his area. The conversation between us is getting more and more topical. The story of his life journey is also filled with luck and challenges and he migrates to various regions to look for work. His tenacity survived several jobs he did when he was young until he finally decided to return to his homeland here. He has worked as a security guard for around 20 years and his boss has changed several times.

What I admire about him is his very good attitude, not only towards his family but towards people he knows. No exception to me, whom he had just met. Once late at night I called him and asked where I could buy a lamp because the light in my house was broken. Without me asking, he came and brought a new lamp and replaced it. Very high dedication and loyalty in my opinion.

While working here, I often came to the guard post and chatted all the time. Consider what I'm doing so he has someone to talk to when he's on night duty. Our conversations are sometimes random, laughing out loud if I say something funny. As a coffee drinker, my coffee equipment has also moved to the guard post. He liked the Gayo coffee I brought. We often had coffee together at the guard post.

Even though we are far apart in age, we respect each other. I still maintain my politeness towards him in speaking and interacting. For two years there has never been any conflict between us. There is only goodness, joy, and fun. He is also still very energetic and painstaking in his work.

Until finally... in 2022, a rule appeared and surprised me and he fell silent, confused and sadness clearly visible on his face. The latest regulations state that there is an age limit for his profession and that he only has 3 months left to work and then he has to retire because he is already 60 years old. I understand how he feels right now. I knew that this job was the only job that made money for him and his family. But rules are rules, we have to obey them.

As time went by, I saw that he had made peace with these conditions and rules. Likewise, his boss has transferred several tasks to others but he still gets his full income. This was done so that he could enjoy his time and to honor his dedication over the years.

He started packing up things he didn't need for a long time and moving them to his house. He no longer fully maintained office security and only worked at night. For the remainder of his working life, he remained dedicated and did not leave his obligations for a single day. And we continue to carry out our activities as usual. Good attitude, responsibility, and maintaining health are the main things I learned from him. There were so many exciting stories during those 2 years that a month before the end of my term of service, I got a new placement and returned to my birthplace in Aceh.

This is Muhaji when 40 years old.

Until this moment, we have been giving each other news and making video calls. You know, currently, he got another job as a security guard in a shop and he already has six grandchildren. I can rightly call him a Passionate and Energetic Grandpa. Congratulations.