Photo: Margriet van Vianen
Don’t be surprised to hear him singing Lionel Ritchie’s ‘Hello, is it me you’re looking for?’ to a couple of Chinese students. For no other reason than that he’s in a good mood. ‘But I know who I can do that with and who I can’t, you know.’ For the past year and a half Hooft has been doing his rounds on the campus for the coffee supplier Maas. Much to his own satisfaction. ‘I have never had such a nice workplace as here. The people walking around here, the colleagues.’ He’s been working for Maas for 16 years and at numerous different locations. ‘But I’ve never had such a relaxed and enjoyable time of it as here.’ He has even moved to Ede for this job, to cut his commuting time. All the walking does take it out of him and he has a limp, due to an arthritic hip. ‘At the end of the day I’m broken.’ He shows me the strip of painkillers that helps him get through his day. But he stays cheerful. ‘I’ve already had to bury a couple of mates. They didn’t get to be as old as I am now. I can’t complain at all.’