MONEY IS YOURS BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY

 MONEY IS YOURS BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY.

Germany is a highly industrialised country. It produces top brands like

Benz, BMW, Siemens etc. The nuclear reactor pump is made in a small town in

this country. In such a country, many will think its people lead a luxurious life. At

least that was my impression before my study trip.

When I arrived at Hamburg , my colleagues who work in Hamburg arranged a

welcome party for me in a restaurant. As we walked into the restaurant, we

noticed that a lot of tables were empty. There was a table where a young

couple was having their meal. There were only two dishes and two cans of

beer on the table. I wondered if such simple meal could be romantic, and

whether the girl will leave this stingy guy.

There were a few old ladies on another table. When a dish is served, the

waiter would distribute the food for them, and they would finish every bit

of the food on their plates.

We did not pay much attention to them, as we were looking forward to the

dishes we ordered. As we were hungry, our local colleague ordered more food

for us. As the restaurant was quiet, the food came quite fast. Since there were

other activities arranged for us, we did not spend much time dining. When we

left, there was still about one third of unconsumed food on the table.

When we were leaving the restaurant, we heard someone calling us. We noticed

the old ladies in the restaurant were talking about us to the restaurant

owner. When they spoke to us in English, we understood

that they were unhappy about us wasting so much food. We immediately felt

that  they were really being too busybody.

*"We paid for our food, it is none of your business how much food we left

behind," my colleague Gui told the old ladies.

The old ladies were furious. One of them immediately took her hand phone out

and made a call to someone. After a while, a man in uniform claimed to be an

officer from the Social Security organisation arrived. Upon knowing  what

the dispute was, he issued us a 50 Euro fine. We all kept quiet. The local

colleague took out a 50 Euro note and repeatedly apologized to the officer.

The officer told us in a stern voice, *

*"ORDER WHAT YOU CAN CONSUME, MONEY IS YOURS BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE

SOCIETY. THERE ARE MANY OTHERS IN THE WORLD WHO ARE FACING SHORTAGE OF

RESOURCES. YOU HAVE  NO REASON TO WASTE RESOURCES.´"

Our face turned red. We all agreed with him in our hearts. The mindset of

people of this rich country put all of us to shame. WE REALLY NEED TO

REFLECT ON THIS. We are from  country which is not very rich in resources.

To save face, we order large quantity and also waste food when we give

others a treat. THIS LESSON TAUGHT US A LESSON TO THINK SERIOUSLY ABOUT

CHANGING OUR BAD HABITS.

My colleague photostatted the fine ticket and gave a copy to each of us as a

souvenir. All of us kept it and pasted on our wall to remind us that we

shall never be wasteful.