Materialist me
I stopped at a roadside puncture shop to get my tyre’s air pressure adjusted. It isn’t a full-fledged shop. That uncle stood up some metal sheets of footpath to give shade to him and his equipment. That shop isn’t busy most of the time and I know it cause I look at it everyday as I drive to the office. Today though couple of cars are waiting to get their punctures fixed. His son seems to be helping him today. I bring my bike onto the footpath as he doesn’t have a long pipe to fill air. I get down the bike, his son fills the tyres, I pay and sit back on the bike. I see the ramp down to the road is blocked by a car getting the getting the tyre fixed. I get down the bike and ask the shop owner’s son to get the car moved so that I can get my bike down. He days the ramp on the side is enough, gets on the bike, brings it down onto the road and gets off. I don’t like giving my bike to anyone without my permission. I yelled at him that he can’t just get on anyone’s bike like that without asking.
I’ve been thinking about this encounter for a while; go through it every time I see the shop. That kid might’ve thought me to be one of those mad customers who yells all the time and even forgot about it. But I held onto the question. “Was yelling at him the right choice?” The instant answer the other half of my brain gave was, yes. Taking care of an item I took so much time and effort in buying and maintaining is valid. This is why people don’t give their valuables to others; I shouldn’t too. But then, why does the question come back again and again? What was I missing?
When I bought my bikes, I knew I’ll love riding it. As months went by, I’ve realised something else. More than me riding, I liked giving rides to people on it. Even more, I loved how it made people smile when they rode it. Though I got scared giving it to people imagining the worst scenarios of what might happen if they don’t drive it well, I liked giving it to their inner kids. We boys grow up looking at a cool bike on a road every once in a while thinking we will ride such a bike someday. I’ve made it happen not only for myself, but for many around me too which makes the bike even more special.
Well, the tyre shop owner’s boy might’ve had the same dream of driving one someday. He it in front of of his eyes and grabbed the opportunity. It’s easy to say ‘He should’ve asked’ rather than ‘I should’ve smiled’.
I’ve been thinking how many such instances aer happening in my life everyday where I give more importance to material than people. Plenty. But the real question is “Why?”. Why have we become such materialists?
I’ve answered it with a single word “Capitalism”. Maybe companies have moulded us in a way to cherish the products more than people. But putting blame on an entity I don’t control feels like saying it’s not my fault. Is yelling at a kid, looking heart-fully at a dream bike, not my fault? It is. It’s all my responsibility to take my happiness into my own hands. It’s all our responsibility to treat people more lovingly than your premium bag, People don’t want to ruin the thing. They just want to experience it once, feel the happiness for a second or two before they move on with their lives.
I argue, letting people create happiness through your products will create a story around your product and mades it even more memorable. From a premium bike, it becomes a bike which made a kid smile and look at you with tears of hope.