A nineteen-year-old-boy walks into an office. Two forty-year-old men approach him and ask him what he is doing in the office. The boy looks at the men and immediately yells, “Is that how you greet to your superior?” I admit that I have not encountered this before, but I’m sure this has somehow happened many times before. Maybe the words are different, but the idea remains the same. To help you make sense of this scene, let’s just say that it’s a scene in an army office, and that boy is a newly commissioned officer—and due to his commission, his rank is higher than the two warrant officers (the forty-year-old men). But I’m not referring to just an army office here. I’m referring to almost everywhere. Remember the new manager who came in and wanted everyone to respect him immediately? Remember the teacher who walked into the class and expected every student to bow to him? Have we become so accustomed to buying power with money that we forget respect is earned, not bought? Let’s face the reality: if you have enough cash, you’ll most likely be able to enrol in a university and get a degree. After that, you’ll walk into an office with a position that requires you to manage others. As a university undergraduate myself, I’m pretty sure we don’t learn how to lead. So, what do we do the moment we step in the office with a namecard that screams “manager”? We scream instructions. You, you and you just listen to my instructions. Full stop. Respect used to be a coveted word that is used sparingly. But in recent years, it seemed to have been abused a lot. Maybe people don’t explicitly request for it, but their actions implicitly indicate they demand it; even if they have not made any effort to gain it. The superior who gets everyone to do OT while he goes home first. The OC (Officer Commanding) who does not sit down with his men to talk about anything, and always just conveys his message through his PCs (Platoon Commanders). The teacher who thinks he is better than all the students because he has a degree, and he has nothing else to learn. Maybe we have become too highly educated. To some extent, it’s good. But come to think about it, if positions are clinched and not climbed, where does the respect come from? Even in video games, we have experience points and we need to spend hours gaining them. Why can’t we have that in reality? What do you think? Please share and like this if you have enjoyed reading it! P.S. Want to get four books of your choice for free (or SGD$10 / RM30), in exchange for 20 minutes of your time? If youre interested, email me at low.kayhwa@goodybooks with your name and age, or PM me here! Only for a limited number of readers (both SG & MY)! Please share this with your friends who might be interested! One of my novels: goodybooks/ibelieveyou.htm
Posted on: Sun, 13 Apr 2014 13:20:00 +0000
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