A Cherry Picker’s story
I’ve been working at UCC for a month now, and I’ve been well fed. It’s not part of the agreement though but every time I pick cherries, there’s this one picker who always gives me food. (Not complaining) Her name’s Tamayo.
Today, while I was picking, Tamayo approached me and gave me coffee flavored candy. As breaktime approached, I gave her a pack of trail mix, then we simply sat down by the coffee trees, and we got around her story.
Tamayo is almost 80 years old. She has picked years ago and is on her 2nd year of picking on this farm. She’s worked in multiple jobs in maintenance or food service before.
When she worked in Walmart, she was in charge of maintenance. She told me she’d bring out loaves of bread, spread, a tub of ice cream and water for whoever’s in the staff space. The older people would question why she’d spend money on them. She said, everybody works hard and they deserve it. The reason why she had to leave was because of Debbie, the manager. When Debbie wanted Tamayo to be in her team, Tamayo declined. She said that no one in that crew smiles or says “good morning”, and she didn’t want to be in a work space like that. That’s how she got fired..
The next one was in a restaurant. It was Father’s Day. Now, Tamayo would always have candy with her. She’d buy all candies on one of the convenience stores every week or two. It’s like she’s always ready to give whenever, or wherever. On this day, the restaurant was packed and she decided to give one candy to every person in that restaurant. One of the crews went and scolded her infront of all the people, saying “Tamayo, how many times do we have to tell you to stop giving candies to the guests?!”, and that’s how she got fired.
Tamayo laughs as she reminisces on her past, but you could also see the sadness in her eyes. She explains to me that she loves to share because it makes her feel good. No matter how small it is, it can make a difference. She told me how her parents were the same, and that they never even swore.
Tamayo has cancer & is undergoing chemotherapy. Doctors tell her to rest but she thinks she’d die if she’d be stuck at her house. Atleast when she’s picking, she forgets.
Tamayo is one of those who moves me. She doesn’t have much but with whatever she has, she’s willing to share. The way she treats people, despite how cruel the world has been, also reminded me that we should never poison our souls for someone else’s shortcomings. Compassion and kindness should still live in everyone. .
So yea. I learned a lot from this woman. Thank you Tamayo for the story, beef jerky, candy and juice you gave me that afternoon :)
