Persistence

When I first realized what was going on I simply could not believe my eyes. I quickly grabbed my camera and, fumbling for the power button, tried to find a good place to shoot without being seen. I pointed and shot.

 

This woman is probably in her seventies, wearing flip-flops, heavy-duty gloves and a kerchief over her flowing white hair. In her hands are a box which she is folding up, ready to toss it into her burlap bag which sits comfortably on its two-wheel hand truck waiting to be carried off.

 

There is an amazing lesson to be discovered here. This old woman probably has joint pain, muscle pain, all sorts of pain. She isn't skinny and that probably doesn't help. But this woman's got bills to pay, and despite her old age and tired body, she's got to make the best of things. I would have never thought that manual labour was the ideal labour for an older woman but now I see that anything is possible, as long as you put your mind to it. I learn persistence from this old woman on the busy streets of Istanbul.

Done