the.com/ferryman
the only employee whose customers can't tip until they're already dead.
means A man who operates a ferry, carrying people or goods across a river or stretch of water for a fee.
from A plain compound of "ferry" and "man." "Ferry" comes from Old Norse "ferja" (to carry across) and the related Old English "ferian" (to carry, convey), both descended from a Germanic root meaning "to go or bring across" — a cousin of the same family that gives us "fare" and "ford." The grim mythic resonance comes later, from Charon, the boatman of Greek myth who ferried the dead across the river Styx for a coin, but the English word itself is humbly literal: a man who moves you over water.
- the fare
- Greeks buried coins in mouths to pay Charon
- no refunds
- souls without payment wandered the shore a century
- job security
- everybody crosses exactly once, eventually
- river crew
- the Styx was one of five underworld rivers
- living guests
- Charon ferried only a few heroes alive
charon — mythological ferryman of the dead across the river styx in greek underworld
khwaja hassan — ferryman on the jhelum river in srinagar, kashmir for over 50 years until retirement