THE CRAFTSMEN AND ARTISANS ON PAVEMENTS

With the different evolution and industrialization that happened throughout time, we grew knowing that having blue-collar jobs would greatly help us have a comfortable life. It was always a misconception that high salaries are only given or achieved if you were to work in big establishments, you have a degree, a title, or a licensed professional. As harsh as it is, some people tend to put other jobs on a pedestal.

As we continue to explore gems and inspiring stories, we have stumbled upon simple yet captivating scoops beside Papaya Street and Pioneer Avenue in General Santos City. If different businesses have commercial spaces, these workers have a one-seater stall that is made up of wood fronting the busy streets and towering buildings. With this small stall, they have everything they need to work; their equipment and supplies. They tend to work from 7 in the morning till 5 in the afternoon. If office jobs required training, education, and skills, these workers mastered their job through self-taught.

While walking alongside the Sydney Hotel, the first stall that caught our attention is a rubber stamp maker and portrait sketcher. David Revite, 50 years of age, was a rubber stamp maker and portrait sketcher for almost 20 years. His jolly and calm personality would get you. He has a good quality of services and communication skills for his customers. It was way back when he was studying in Davao City that he learned to make rubber stamps. He just watches how rubber stamps are made outside his school where makers are lined in a row.

With the confidence and the basic knowledge from watching, he tried to do it by himself and it became his source of income when he stopped studying. With every stroke of his sharp carving tool, the cost starting price of P120.00 per rubber stamp, and P1,200.00 pesos per portrait sketch, he was able to sustain the education of his three children. Out of his three children, two of them graduated already and the other one is still in Senior High School. Despite losing his wife, the honking of horns, and passing of people, being alone at a workplace wherein you got your self he was able to sustain and support his family by making rubber stamps and sketching. As we ask him how is his income in these hard times of pandemic, he left out a beautiful line to us “Our daily income isn’t fixed. It was like fishing. There are times that our net where full and we got a lot of catch and there are also times that waves are so big that we catch nothing in our nets”.

As we continue to stroll, we reach papaya street. Beside the busy street, a group of cobblers gathered our attention. Unlike the previous, they rented a space and they share a percentage of their income with the owner of the shop. Aside from repairing shoes, they also repair leather bags and make majorette boots. The starting price of repairing doll shoes ranges from 80 pesos to 120 pesos. The price depends on what is needed to repair.

The same with the aforementioned, Pao-Pao, 38 years of age, learned how to repair from the older and veteran cobblers. He has been repairing shoes for 20 years now. Skills and experience over time make them the craftsman and artisans that they were today. Aside from the persons that pass by are the stories and sentiments behind the shoes that they repair. It wasn’t only giving value to a broken pair of shoes. It was more of giving new hope to renew themselves and worth.

Painting the old color that faded, exchanging the old solely for a new one, making it look like a brand-new pair, renders a new day and beginning for the owner. It was giving a fresh start for the tired and broken parts that brought the owners to places and witnessed events that were so dear to them.

We continued crossing the long way of Pioneer Avenue. Across the street, we found a stall where it caters to repairs of watches. Aside from being a watchmaker, they also make rubber stamps and wooden cabinets. Aside from being an optimistic watchmaker, he is also a proud parent. He shared how proud he is of his son who is graduating student of BS Criminology at Ramon Magsaysay College. He supported his son’s education through watch repair. Before the pandemic, they would gain enough for their daily needs.

The highest daily income they can garner is one thousand pesos. Yet after the global pandemic happened, their income got cut down to half. There is a huge difference between their incomes before and after the pandemic. But this doesn’t stop them from working. It was more than a source of income for them. It was their 20 years of experience, handling different customers, repairing different damages, listening to stories, and surpassing different types of waves in their everyday business.

As persons, we differ in many aspects of life. We have different perceptions, goals, reactions, and coping mechanisms in stimulus in life. We may often think others seem to be ahead of us and here we are being stagnant in life. But let’s always remember that life isn’t a race, we can clap our hands to others while we wait for our time. We must not compare success. Everyone has a different definition of success. We must not be defined by our society or other’s perception of us. We must pave our path to success.