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today i went with my production team to Hua Hin, a sort of getaway area of Thailand, to do an on location shoot for my boss lady. that's not the good part, that's the work part.
it was hot as all hell, and everyone really really worked hard doing our jobs.
in the afternoon, we all went to this really nice hotel to relax until the nighttime, when we would return to the grounds again, and shoot again.
we decided to go down to the beach and touch the ocean.
now there's something you all should know here; in Thailand everyone that can afford it or swing it, has maids. usually the girls are young and from burma or laos, or they are moms/daughter duos; the boys are servants, or drivers. it's a hard reality to face day in and day out, but it's reality here and it exists.
we went with two of the maids from the house, ping and mai. mai is more open and knowledgable about the world and what's up, while ping is around 14/15, and is a tiny little thing. it's hard to smile in the day when a girl like that, that is so small and sweet, has to clean your dishes and wash your clothes and such.
i went down with the two maids to the shoreline and we walked a little bit in, kicking at the water, and picking up seashells. the day was beautifully overcast just right; the lulling ocean was calm and a deep blue green. it felt so good to just have a good relaxing moment. it's hard to know how the girls feel when they are in their maid mode because they have to hide their emotions, but when they are away from the eyes of the boss, they are so happy and carefree.
i asked ping if she wanted to go swim in the ocean, and she said that she didn't want to because she didn't bring any swim clothes. i said it's no problem, because someone might have some extra clothes to change into. she still said no.
some of the other co-workers came down to the beach around 20 minutes later, and wanted to go for a swim. i had nothing to change into also, but i asked them for ping, whether they had something for her to change into. i mean, why not? we're here, it's beautiful, i know in her heart she wanted to, so let's go go go right?
we found an outfit for her to change into, and she laughed out loud and we all went into the sea. she was so giddy. she splashed around and dunked her squirmy little body in the ocean like a duck that has gone on the water for the first time. it was so nice to see her having such a good time.
she accidentally tasted some of the sea water, and immediately exclaimed "it's salty!!" i asked her if she ever swam in the ocean before, and she said no. never.
my heart broke all over this afternoon, because it just seems skewed for that even to be. 14, 15, and never swam in the ocean? crazy? yeah!
she was so happy splashing around. wriggling and laughing uncontrollably with delight and going out too far. trying to swim around and having the current take her out and wash her back in. it's like someone discovering laughter. it was really fun today, i don't think i'll forget it.
life is like a long trip with some few spectacular pitstops. this was one of them. if you saw how genuinely elated she was, and knew what she had to go back to tomorrow, it would just make you crumble. this is why i try and treat everyone with the same amount of equality and respect, because some people never know what to be free will feel like.
tonight meditate on that fact for 20 minutes, think about all of the non-sensical idle things that you worry about, and think about the misfortune of people like this girl, and just feel lucky to be where you are right now, while the real world continues on.
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