In times when videos on entrepreneurship, business leadership or advice on quitting your job and “doing it on your own” abound, tiktoker Pepe Martín (@pepemartingar) wanted to give voice to the other side of the coin: that of employees who work for others. His last interview, conducted in a fruit shop in Madrid, has gone viral due to the naturalness and optimism of its protagonist, José, a fruit seller at the store. Grandpa Pedro that vindicates the pride of daily work and the importance of doing it “with love.”
“I am José and I dedicate myself to this, to the art of fruit growing,” he begins by saying in front of the camera, with a smile that sums up the joy with which he carries out his work. But this was not always the case and when Pepe asks him why he chose the job as a fruit seller, he remembers that before he was working in another place where he was not happy: “I chose this job because I had a bad one, I saw the opportunity and I jumped at it. And I like my job,” he explains. What he likes most, he says, is “dealing with people.” The worst, he says with a laugh, simply doesn’t exist: “There’s nothing bad here. Everything about this job is great.”
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“I prefer to be an employee and be calm”
When asked if he has ever thought about starting his company and being self-employed, José is clear: he does not want to start his own business. “Thinking about it, everyone thinks about it, but the situation is very complicated. So in the meantime we stay here calmly, being employees and serving people with love,” he says.
When Pepe asks him what the best thing is about working for someone else, his answer is direct: “You don’t have to worry about rent, or anything about being self-employed, or about electricity, or about water. About anything.” In a country where self-employed workers fight against tax responsibilities (the self-employed quota could increase for the new year), his reflection has awakened a wave of empathy among users.
The fruit shop, located in Madrid and known as Grandpa Pedroboasts of having “the best fruit in Madrid” and offering delivery throughout the community. José mentions it with pride: “We are in Madrid. And if I call you, we will take your order anywhere.”
Earn between 1,500 and 2,000 euros per month
When asked about working hours, José does not hesitate: “I work as many hours as I have to work. If I have to work 25 hours, I work them. Because I like my job and everything is well paid.”
Although he avoids specifying his salary (“That’s a trick question,” he says with a laugh), he does suggest that his effort is compensated: “An interval… okay, to mislead: between 1,500 and 2,000 euros,” he finally answers.
His statement has generated debate on networks about retail salaries and the reality of small business workers in Spain, who often take on long hours to maintain their jobs in a difficult economic context.
“With love, everything is possible”
The closing of the interview has become the most shared moment of the video. In response to Pepe Martín’s last question (what advice would he give to someone starting out), José summarizes an entire work philosophy in a single sentence:
“Whatever you are doing, whatever you want to do, do it with love. That with love everything is possible.”
A simple answer, but loaded with meaning at a time when many young people associate success with entrepreneurship, visibility or economic independence. José, from his fruit counter, remembers that there is also pride, dignity and happiness in salaried work, when it is done with passion and respect for the job.