A dying trade

What do you do when your scissors and knives become dull, and cannot be used for the purpose they were meant for?  Do you throw them away?

In my childhood days there was the 'Tajam Gunting' man who used to ply his trade riding a bicycle.  Housewives (it's always the wife, never the husband) will bring out their dulled knives and scissors to be sharpened whenever they heard his call or the ring of his bell.

Its been many years since I've seen this in KL.

Yesterday I chanced upon a Tajam Gunting man when I was in Sungei Wang Plaza.

This uncle said that he has been involved in this line for over 30 years.  He is not stationed here but comes once every few months and his services are sought by the many hair dressing salons that are located here.  According to the uncle, you can earn a living (cari makan) but you can never be kaya (rich) in this trade.

Just a note: In those days the sharpening stone used to be attached to the bicycle and the Tajam Gunting used 'pedal power' to spin the wheel.