When repairing air conditioners in high-rise buildings, Mr. Nghia had to swing on ropes, climb out, and float in the sun at nearly 40 degrees Celsius. In return for those hardships, Mr. Nghia earned nearly 1 million VND. everyday.
Despite danger to make a living
At 6 a.m., Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa (35 years old), living in Thanh My Loi ward, Thu Duc city, knocked on each room’s door to urgently ask for the phone number of the air conditioning repair company. Even though air conditioner repairman Nguyen Van Nghia (40 years old) had promised to come to the house at 8:00 a.m., Ms. Hoa kept calling to urge her because… it was too hot.
“Mrs. Hoa had an appointment at 8:00 a.m., but I didn’t get there until 10:00 a.m. because there was too much work. During these peak hot days, my phone rang constantly. New customers and old customers all urged me to come fix the air conditioner and steam fan.” “, Mr. Nghia lamented.
According to Mr. Nghia, on hot days he has to work from 6am to 10pm, earning about 1 million VND/day.
“The income is high, but working continuously in the hot sun is very difficult. In the city, most high-rise buildings have heaters installed on the outside, so when making repairs, I have to swing on a rope, climb out and hang myself in the air. In the sun, if I’m careless, an accident will happen. Every time I finish work, I get dizzy and have to rest for a while before I have the strength to continue working,” Mr. Nghia confided.
Sharing with Dan Tri reporter, Mr. Nguyen Cao Canh, director of an air conditioner trading and repair company in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, said that this heat wave has caused the workload to be 2 or 3 times higher than normal days. often. His company has 12 workers but cannot keep up.
Also according to Mr. Canh, from high-rise apartment buildings to boarding houses, shops… all urge air conditioner workers every time the air conditioner is not cool, leaks water, runs out of gas… Therefore, the workers are overloaded.
“Every day, a worker working in the central area can repair 7 to 8 machines, and working in remote districts can repair 5 to 6 machines. In addition to salary, each worker earns around 1 million VND in additional income.” , Mr. Canh said.
With 12 main workers but always on a tight schedule, in order not to lose “leads”, Mr. Canh connects with a number of freelance workers so that customers do not have to wait long.
Water carts sprung up
Not only does the job of repairing air conditioners “make money”, Mr. Le Thanh Binh (45 years old) sells sugarcane juice in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, excitedly boasting: “In the past 2 weeks, the weather has been hot and muggy, so the number of customers has increased. 3, 4 times more than usual. Every day my shop sells hundreds of glasses of all kinds of drinks, with revenue of more than 1 million VND.”
Similarly, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kieu, owner of a beverage cart on Mai Chi Tho street (Thu Duc city), said that every day she sells hundreds of Ben Tre coconuts, priced at 20,000 to 25,000 VND/fruit. In addition, the store also chops coconuts into plastic cups and sells them for 20,000 VND/cup.
These days, due to the large number of customers, Ms. Kieu has to mobilize all her family members to help sell.
“In addition to selling fresh coconuts, there are days when I sell 100 to 150 bottles of water, priced from 10,000 to 15,000 VND/bottle, with revenue of 3 to 4 million VND/day,” Ms. Kieu added.
Not only Ms. Kieu’s water cart, on Mai Chi Tho street there are also dozens of soft drink selling points “springing up”. Although the water carts are quite primitive, they are always full of customers
($1~24,000 VND)
( According to Dan Tri)