Saturday he makes his last tour through his village of Hank after fifty years. Greengrocer and fruit man Jan van der Puijm (67) thought it was great. Since 1972 he has been driving his van through the village to sell and deliver fruit and vegetables at home. Customers regret that he stops: “Where else are we supposed to get our fruit and vegetables? At the supermarket, which can’t match the quality that Jan delivers.”
When Jan makes his regular round through Hank on Thursday, the customers are already saying goodbye. Here and there he receives gifts as a thank you for the service he has provided all these years. Douwe, who has been a regular customer for over twenty years, will miss the fruit and vegetable delivery person: “First of all because of the good quality. And moreover, when Jan comes by, you hear something. When the bells ring in the village, then Jan knows who is being buried, it is not always happy news”.
Jan is not yet emotional about the approaching end of his working life: “Well, I’m glad when it’s finished. It took fifty years and it’s good, I’ve said goodbye to it”. Jan started in his parents’ greengrocer’s shop at the age of 16, after secondary school. But he didn’t like sitting inside all day and waiting for customers. And so he went by wagon to sell fruit and vegetables in Hank, in the people’s homes.
“Retiring is actually dying a little bit.”
Jan has had it, especially with the increasingly extreme weather. In recent summers, working on the street in sweltering weather, Jan didn’t like that as much. He will especially miss the contact with the customers and the talks he has with people: “I always say retiring is actually dying a little bit, you no longer belong to anything, to put it exaggeratedly, but that will come again. good”.
Sometimes people ask Jan if he will soon be traveling as a pensioner. Jan has to laugh hard and answers: “I will certainly travel soon, to Giessen, Dussen and Sleeuwijk, because our municipality is big enough. In recent years, Jan Hank barely came out, so he will not become a world traveler.
“Jan quitting is a disaster for Hank.”
As a small self-employed person, Jan has not accrued any pension. That is why he sold the parental home, where he has lived all his life. It will be demolished and apartments will be built. Jan hopes to be able to make ends meet from the proceeds. But before that, he makes one more round of his regular customers.
Neighbor Corrie comes with her grandson in her arms, orders fruit and vegetables and thinks it’s terrible that Jan stops: “It’s a disaster for Hank, where else can we get our fresh fruit and vegetables?” Most of all, Corrie is going to miss the small talk: “He’s Hank’s walking news paper and always knows everything”. Jan thinks the name ‘newspaper’ is a bit exaggerated: “I always say: go along if you can and keep quiet if you have to”. Anyway, after Saturday, Hank will have to do without Jan’s news, fresh vegetables and fruit.