Clock repairman

A lovely autumn in Hanoi on Sunday...

My dad drove me to a clock repair shop near my house in order to change the battery for my watch. It is a tiny shop in Dinh Ngan street, which is also a small and quite street hiding behind many big buildings on Dien Bien Phu street.

I was so surprised seeing the clock repair man and his shop because it reminded me a lot of 18 years ago or even earlier, when I was a child following my dad to his place to fix clock or watch. All memories suddenly became so clear like a slow movie in my mind. He- the clock repairman was still there, doing his work with special glass to maximize every tiny and sophisticated  details of small watch's machine and his store, actually only a cabinet facing the main street, was exactly the same as well.

Inside his cabinet, there were still very old clocks and watches such as a bunch of "Chicken eating rice" alarm-clock, which was popular around 10-12 years ago. I used to have one "Chicken eating rice" clock, bought by my dad to encourage me to wake up on time by myself to go to school. "Time has many meanings..".- I still remember my dad's statement when he gave that clock to me.

The clock repairman and his small shop seem to be the only one still exists without changing on that street. I remember many years ago, the high building in front of his store used to have 2-3 big clock & watch shops, now they become a fashion shop and a "siêu thị điện máy" (electronic supermarket). The street also looks cleaner and less "vỉa hè" restaurants than several years ago. Everything looks so modernized now except for the shop, even inside, the calendar on the wall contains the old picture of Miss Vietnam 1992. So classical !!

The man and his clock repair shop gave me a idea of particular people doing only one job for the whole life, the income is always in the middle- enough for them to maintain the living standard but not enough to expand the business and open a bigger store. However, they still have their own "brand name", which make people like my dad come to his store every single time they have problem with their clock or watch. They have their own customers and their own market. 

Before leaving his store with a fixed watch, I was thinking about Hanoian people who doing small and particular job like repairing clocks, shoes, cloths... Maybe it's not always the reason of money that prevents them from expanding their business. It is their choice- their preference to work peacefully and regularly without any competition in their own market, they choose to be middle class working people. 

And as a Hanoian, I love every small corner of the city, where I'm easily able to find  my old clock repairman,  chả cốm seller, traditional phở  owner and even the lady selling me candies through the small hole of the elementary school's gate... I love Hanoi because of many tiny unexplainable reasons like that :)