Le Travail rend libre
De Damjan Kozole
Peter, la quarantaine, se voit licencié de l'usine où il travaillait jusqu'ici, avant que la Slovénie n'entre dans l'Union Européenne. Chaque jour, il se rend au service-emploi et compte bien reprendre le dessus, aidé en cela par Vera, son épouse attentive. Ses efforts demeurant vains, il perd confiance en lui de jour en jour et finit par découvrir que Vera le trompe. Le jour où il décide de se pendre, un voisin le sauve in extremis. Et la routine reprend...The main hero, Peter, is in his early forties. He´s a machine operator by profession. Until recently, he worked in a factory, but after Slovenia´sintegration into the European Union, the factory closed down and Peter and his colleagues were made redundant. Peter´s wife isvery supportive and their family life appears to be quite satisfactory. Peter is paying regular visits to the Employment Service and is tryingto find another job wherever he can, but all his efforts are in vain. Slowly but surely, he is loosing self-confidence and self-esteem. Hebecomes suspicious of his wife, Vera, and thinks that she might be cheating on him. When it almost seems that all Peter´s fears and suspicionsare only in his head, it turns out that Vera is actually seeing another man. Peter demands a divorce immediately, and Vera agrees.Almost overnight Peter is left alone as Vera moves out and takes Sonja their daughter with her. In a moment of despair, Peter decidesto hang himself. He takes a rope and when the rope is tightening around his neck the doorbell rings. By mere coincidence a neighbour,who just wanted to borrow some coffee, saves his life. Peter ends up in a psychiatric ward. After this episode, his pointless life goes on- his everyday visits to the Employment Service become a routine, he frequents a local bar for a beer and a chat with his friends. One dayon his way home he finds all his neighbours scared and worried in front of the house. He learns that gas has been leaking in the cellar.Fire-fighters should have arrived already, but they got stuck in a traffic jam. There is a real danger of explosion. Peter does not hesitate; heruns into the building and manages to shut down the main valve, although he almost suffocates. His neighbours are cheering him whenhe comes out of the building, they are happy and relieved, and the house manager offers him a job of a caretaker.
