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Vignettes — #10
Eduard
Eduard is at the dinner table with his wife Hannah and their sons Josh and Mick. “I took on a doctor today.”
“You did what?” Hannah asks.
“The Refugee Resource Centre sent me this guy who was a doctor in Afghanistan.”
“But you need carpenters, not doctors. They know that.”
“That’s the interesting thing. This man apparently did the equivalent of an apprenticeship where he comes from.”
Josh speaks around a mouth full of food. “Carpentry would be handy if you need to cut someone’s leg off. You know, with the war and all that.”
Mick sniggers.
“That’s not funny, young man,” Hannah says. She turns to Eduard. “But why did he learn to be a carpenter and a doctor?”
Mick says, “Maybe he was a really bad doctor.”
“That will do, Mick,” Eduard chides. “I have no details about his history. The resource centre said they were getting his qualifications translated and on that basis I said I’d take him. I’ll get him to do general labouring until I get the paperwork. I’ll meet him tomorrow. The woman at the centre said he’s sleeping rough.”
“What does that mean?” Mick asks.
