Reasonable man

"good morning" An elderly couple eating breakfast next to us at a restaurant said hello to us. We greeted them with a smile.

"I live with a guilty conscience every day," he said, "so that I can put my wife at ease and we don't argue."

I was taken aback by this out-of-the-blue statement, but quickly realized what he was trying to say.

"It's wise of you to be good to your wife with a sense of guilt."

"My father raised me to be reasonable with people."

His story continues. I also said something.

"When I left for America, my father also told me to be reasonable with people, even if I couldn't be nice to them, so the first English word that stuck in my head was reasonable." 

I work by listening to audiobooks on YouTube. I listen to a lot of them, and most of the time I don't remember the author or the content. Occasionally, there are some that are easy to understand, touch my heart, and are memorable. Among them, ‘Gangnam house keeper’ by Kim Jinah, which I have heard these days, lingers in my head.

It's a story about Yoon Geum-yi, who works in a restaurant kitchen and raised her only son without a husband. Her son dies in an accident. The daughter-in-law took the compensation money and disappeared with her 10-year-old son without consulting her mother-in-law. Ms. Yoon learns from the mother of her grandson's elementary school friend that her grandson has transferred to Sehwa Elementary School in Gangnam, Seoul. She becomes a domestic helper near Sehwa Elementary School in order to meet her grandson. She lives with a business couple who are raising a boy who attends the same school as her grandson. 

The relationship between the couple is not good because of the husband's affair. Ms. Yoon becomes close to the child, who is trying to suppress his sadness while his mother and father are fighting. On the day of the sports day, Ms. Yoon  visits the school to cover for the child's busy mother. She tries to find out what class her grandson is enrolled in from the administrative staff, but his name is not in the school records. After realizing that her grandson does not attend the school, Yoon Geum-yi had no reason to stay in the house any longer. But she couldn't leave the child behind closed doors. This is a sad and heartwarming story about two people who help each other heal. 

It's heartwarming to read such a heartwarming story. I feel guilty for not being able to comfort or help anyone in my life. On the other hand, didn't I at least hurt people around me with the Reasonable person my father emphasized? Look back on myself.