The job of having to wake up in the middle of the night, and still hearing "o e" on the first day of Tet

The hearse was full of coffins.

"I still remember clearly the time I drove a hearse full of coffins. Many people felt chills, but I felt normal. Every trip, I just wanted to be able to take care of the funeral, support the deceased", although he is no longer unfamiliar with the heartbreaking job, Chien still cannot help but feel sad when recalling the time when the Covid-19 epidemic broke out in Ho Chi Minh City.

At 6am, Nguyen Viet Chien (27 years old, funeral staff) received the call with the news of the day and had to immediately start preparing for the upcoming funeral. He quickly took a shower, put on a black suit and went to the funeral home with the utmost neatness and solemnity.

According to Mr. Chien, this job always requires being punctual and doing each job precisely.

Funeral planning is not a job that everyone is willing to pursue or stick with (Photo: Character provided).

As a funeral director with many years of experience, Mr. Chien confided that contacting corpses or witnessing death is no longer a "chilling" thing for him, but instead is sacred.

Previously, Chien graduated from Hanoi University of Civil Engineering in 2018 and worked at a famous technology company with a high salary.

"Suddenly one day, I heard my friends invite me to Ho Chi Minh City to work at a funeral company. At first, I was very hesitant because I was still very young. But then, I became curious and really wanted to know what this job was," Chien said.

From Hanoi, Chien went to Ho Chi Minh City despite the fact that the position to take over the family business was still vacant. When they heard that their son was working as a funeral worker, Chien's parents were surprised and tried to dissuade him. To reassure his family, the young man hardly dared to talk about his career.

He said that during Tet, the family would gather together and start talking about the work and achievements of the year. He himself always kept to himself, not daring to tell anyone who asked.

"On occasions like these, people often avoid mentioning death. Many people also believe that people who do this job should not visit other people's houses during Tet. But this is the nature of my job, so I have to accept it," Chien shared.

Funeral worker Nguyen Khang (23 years old) sympathizes that this is a difficult profession to talk about.

"Many people ask me why I'm still young and doing this job. Aren't you afraid of bad luck? But for me, to do this job you have to have a destiny, you have to love others a lot to be able to do it," Khang confided.

With a modern and highly humane organizational style, the workforce in this industry is getting younger today (Photo: Character provided).

According to Khang, this job is getting "younger" in terms of personnel. Some of his colleagues have just graduated from university and have applied to join the company. One of the reasons is that the organization is becoming more and more modern, far from the traditional style.

Changing the concept of life and death

The Covid-19 outbreak was also the time when Chien was still inexperienced in the profession. Working from 6am to midnight every day for 4 months, he could not remember how many funerals he had organized in a day for people who died from the disease.

Talking about the first time he touched a corpse, Chien said he couldn't help but feel scared. But the young man's fear was that he wouldn't be able to complete his task and wouldn't be able to properly prepare for the funeral.

According to Chien, this profession does not require going to school or class to learn, because there is no one to teach it. Most people in the profession learn from each other, then read books and find materials to research.

Moreover, they had to be on call 24/7, even when they went to the bathroom, because no funeral had a set date. On the first day of Tet, Chien once wished his family in his hometown a happy new year while conducting a funeral. The phone kept ringing with the sound of funeral trumpets and funeral music "ò e í e".

Sometimes, he thought about quitting his job because the nature of the job was too harsh. The schedule was disrupted, and pressure from his family made Chien think he had to stop.

But after each funeral, when the family of the deceased says thank you, Chien feels relieved and like he has done something very meaningful for life.

"People in this profession must always keep a calm mind. In reality, during funerals, the family of the deceased is very confused and needs us to be their support, to take care of the work to help the deceased pass away peacefully," Chien said.

In addition to giving his heart to his job, Chien shared that he received a lot in return, especially life experiences (Photo: Provided by the character).

In addition to giving his heart, sincerity and willingness to learn, Chien said that this profession also gives him a more gentle and indifferent view of life.

Having witnessed so many funerals, the contemplation of life and death of those in the profession also changes. "This life is very impermanent, life and death are only one breath apart. It makes a young person like me understand that I need to cherish life and do more useful things," Chien confided.

Funeral workers are often misunderstood as having to deal with death every day, which can be scary. However, in reality, they see it as more than just a job, it is a calling, a way to show respect and empathy.

Source link: https://dantri.com.vn/lao-dong-viec-lam/nghe-nua-dem-phai-bat-day-mung-1-tet-van-nghe-o-e-20230928175733825.htm