Tinkers are part of the American tradition, the men (I never heard of any women tinkers) who traveled with their load of pots and pans and metalware through the rural areas of the country. Cambodia has literally tinkers (although the metalware today is made of plastic) but there are a plethora of other itinerant vendors, too. This man sells brightly colored sheets and blanket and pillows and bolsters. I’ve often wondered what life is like for these individuals on the road from dawn to dusk and perhaps not selling anything all day but still needing to put gas in the motorcycle and provide something for the family to eat that day.
On Monday I said goodbye to staff at the Walsh Building at Maryknoll Lay Missioners and then went into Manhattan where I left Tuesday morning for Chicago, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Phnom Penh where I landed this morning. My computer is not cooperating, though, so I am going to have to finish this tomorrow.