The young man was listening carefully as he was working next to the old man.
The clothes seemed to be endless, the machines kept on humming their work, the room turned stuffy, and Anton started to feel his sweat crawling down his forehead to his eyebrows and nose from which it could drip onto anything below. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand making sure his sweat wouldn’t fall onto the clothes he was folding. Dylan saw his movement.
“It gets stuffy in here, especially when all the driers are going and as you see we have very short narrow windows. However, let me crack one open so some fresh air gets in. He left the clothes and standing on a chair he opened half way two windows to the outside. Indeed fresh air started getting in and Anton felt its whiff on his face and arms. He smiled as he continued folding the clothes. Dylan stood next to him and kept up with the task in hand. They worked for a while when Dylan asked.
“You live with your parents, I suppose?”
“Yes, on the other side of the river on Columbia Street. My dad works for the trains, he’s a mechanic.”
“Oh, very nice, and what’s your origin?”
“Hungary. We emigrated soon after the war.”
“I see. Your father didn’t like what would become of your country under the Russians. I don’t blame him, to be honest. I wouldn’t like to live under their communism.”
“Yes, my dad preferred other ways…I do too.”
“Good for you; here you live in a very rich country with so many opportunities for a young man like yourself…but what else do you have in mind? I don’t believe you plan to work here for the rest of your life…like I have done”
“No, at some time I might go back to school which my dad wishes too. He’d love to have a lawyer son rather than a school employee.”
“You father seems to be a very thoughtful man; I’d be proud of such a father.”
“But I am, Dylan, truly I feel very proud for my father. Especially when I think of what difficulties and hard times he faced just to give me the chance for a better future.”
“Yes, yes, I’m sure he faced numerous situations and issues, and of course the language problem. Did your dad speak some English when you emigrated here?”
“He spoke a little but he took up English soon as we came here…and being an educated man it didn’t take him too long to manage his communicating. Then it was the everyday learning, of course, which helped him master the language and although he still speaks with an accent he’s on top of the heap on the subject.”
“I’m sure, and I know the accent sometimes makes communicating difficult.”
“Yes, his co-workers, mostly Anglos, always make fun of his accent.”
Manolis Aligizakis 