"Anyone who cannot come to terms with his life while he is alive needs on hand to ward off a little his despair over his fate—he has little success in this—but with the other hand he can note down what he sees among the ruins, for he sees different (and more) things than do the others; after all, dead as he is in his own lifetime, he is the real survivor. This assumes that he does not need both hands, or more hands than he has, in his struggle against despair."--Kafka



Thursday, October 8, 2009

小販

下班去書店,路經某地,竟見到有幾個小販檔攤,小販用紙皮箱搭起檔攤,有的賣手袋,有的賣絲巾,有的賣絲襪,還有小電器,在秋意漸濃的日子裡,看到這些小販,令我心頭一熱,我有多久沒有見過小販呢?忙不迭興致勃勃的看攤檔,走到絲襪檔攤,那中年婦女努力的向圍觀的人推銷絲襪,我很高興地給她買了一對廿元的絲襪,那是最美好的交易,婦女努力靠自己能力維生,而我又可以以廉價購得必需品,想像她辛苦賺得少許金錢去幫補生計,我頓時覺得那廿元花得很有價值。

小時候在深水埗成長,還是滿街小販的年代,一架鐵車,插上寫上價錢的紙牌,鐵車放滿各種物品,一旦「走鬼」,小販用布一蓋就奔跑,還有黃金商場和北河街附近的魚蛋、生菜魚肉、臭豆腐那是我最美好的八十年代,升斗市民在街邊謀生,基層市民又可以以廉價購得物品,街上總是充滿生氣,每個街景都是獨特的,我還記得媽媽每次帶我去行北河街,我對著賣椰汁的檔攤嚥口水,那位賣椰汁的叔叔我打死都記得。我有時就想,不知現今的孩子的記憶是怎樣的呢?是不是在冷氣商場看著千篇一律的店舖?

小販,盛滿了希望和暖意,如果口袋有錢,我會寧願光顧那些自食其力的小販們,而不是到大百貨公司去。

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