Havaianas, The Social Dilemma, and the bane of inaction
Some people will see this as nothing more than a broken slipper.
Some will see this as creativity.
I see this as having the capacity to make a difference.
I was making my way to the tailor shop yesterday when I took a wrong turn and ended up in the wrong compound. While checking the map on my mobile phone, the strap on my slippers popped.
I wasn’t really bothered by this because home is just 300 metres away.
At this moment, a Shanghainese lady walked by.
“Oh dear, you should get a new pair. Don’t walk around barefeet!” she exclaimed.
“It’s okay. I live just round the corner,” I replied.
“There’s a provision shop round the corner, please go buy yourself a new pair.”
“It’s really not a big deal. I won’t be out for long.”
“I can open the back gate of the compound so that you can take the shortcut to the shop!”
I smiled, thanked her and quickly took off. The rain was getting heavier.
Minutes later, my tailor had the same reaction. After insisting that I’ll be fine walking home barefeet, he narrowed his eyes and started examining the broken slipper.
“Hmm. Let’s give it a go,” he said, before heading back into the shop to get a lighter.
His wife, seeing how he was struggling to weld the strap to the sole, muttered something in Shanghainese.
“Ah, good idea!” he quipped.
He took a safety pin and impaled one end of the strap, creating a makeshift wedge that would allow me to wear that slipper again, at least till I get home.
I thanked him profusely before leaving.
The first thing that came to mind is that mainland Chinese are probably the most maligned people on earth, no thanks to a few bad sheep who have given the nation a bad name.
The second thought was this: how many people would go the extra mile to fix something they know isn’t right, even if not doing so would have little impact on their lives?
I tried putting myself in the shoes of these two kind Shanghainese people I met and wondered if I’d bother to help a stranger struggling with a broken slipper.
I’m not sure I would. It’s a freaking broken slipper. It’s not exactly a life and death situation. That was my answer.
I think this second thought came about because I was watching The Social Dilemma the night before.
I loved every minute of the show. I’ll admit that I agree with much of what was suggested, that social media, as much as it has changed life for the better, also comes with pitfalls that we seem all too happy to be ignorant about.
Social media addiction is real. I know. Because I was once addicted.
The fact that Tristan Harris, one of those featured on the show, would voice out against his former company Google and set up the Center for Humane Technology, a nonprofit organization that attempts to “reverse the digital attention crisis and realign technology with humanity’s best interests” is, to me, immensely heartening.
His actions seem to say all there is to say.
This is a man who has identified a problem and is determined to fix it, even though most people around him seem not the least bit concerned, even though he can probably still live a good life without fixing it.
I want to be someone like that.
And this is why I wrote this post. Because I want people to think about some of the issues mentioned in this post.
What’s the point of thinking, you say?
The point is that all actions start with a thought.
