Does an unassociated post ever trigger a poignant memory?
I988. I was mid-30s and chef at the biggest sporting club in Victoria.
To Li applied for position of kitchen hand and started work.
Little, skinny guy with a grin that split the universe. Practically no English, but the most intense desire to communicate.
In the weeks and months that followed, To Li was my closest work colleague. I never actually figured out exactly what his first and last names were - he didn't mind; he was being polite about MY lack of knowledge about Vietnamese naming conventions.
I've never seen anyone with knife skills like To. Over a couple of years I found out that he'd been a student in Saigon. Managed to pay for passage to Australia for a family group. He was a vegetarian; yes, once he ate meat. On the boat trip he'd seen cannibalism; seen people thrown overboard.
I couldn't imagine the horrors that thiis chirpy, grinning, optimistic young man (he was the same age as me) had seen. He was just grateful; grateful that he and his wife had survived. Grateful to be here in Australia. Greatful to have three or four fucking jobs, starting at 4am that gave him practically a full time income.
I came to love this guy to bits. He brought me moon cakes; told me never to give towels as a present and when his first Aussie child was born he called her Margaret - after Margeret Whitlam. You'll need to look her up.
Funniest of all was the day he left. He'd given notice and invited many staff members to a drink in the bar on his last night. He loudly made a $20 bet with Geoff the Cellarman that he could drink 10 whiskeys in the time it took Geoff to drink one beer. OK - you're on! It was common knowledge among the staff that To Li was a teetotalar....
To Li had teed this up beforehand with Nellie the bar tender. Nellie poured ten shots of whiskey into a 11oz glass. Topped it up with a little coke and handed it over. Geoff had his beer.
I'll never forget this image until I die. To Li screwed up his face, skolled the big glass of whiskey and said he'd won the bet. Then his knees collapsed But through the door came his wife; she'd been teed up to collect him. Geoff coughed up the $20 and a legend was born.
I'd asked To Li what he was studying in Vietnam; I'm still not sure what it was. I gained the impression from hm that Vietnam was the past and now his is an Aussie; didn't want to talk about the past.
I don't know if ToLi is alive or dead - I suspect alive. If you're reading this, To Li. I last saw you twenty years ago in Footscray. Post something.
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