Monday, June 04, 2007

Complexities!!

Friday morning [ 3 days ago], woke up at 5:30 am for an hour long cycle ride. To my dismay, the rear wheel has lost pressure and at this hour, i sure cannot expect the neighbourhood cycle shop to be open. I bid the time away and at 6:15 am, the shop opens [ Yay!!]. I check my wallet and realise i don't have "change". Tyre topping up costs Rs.1 per tyre . But the wallet topping the previous night left me with 5 hundred rupee notes!
The fun begins now.
Me : Boss, i don't have "change" with me now. I got a Rs.100 note with me . And at 6:15 am, all the other shop guys are fast asleep, for me to get "change" from them. Can i give you the Rs.2 at 8 am?
Cycle Shop Guy : No, in that case, tyre inflation cannot be done.
Me : Boss, you know me very well. I come here every alternate day for a top-up. [ Having a sports bike is a pain - you need to top up the type pressure every alternate day for peak cycle performance]
Cycle Shop Guy : Sorry sir. Not possible. Get me the Rs.2 right now or your tyres don't get topped-up.
Me : [ In real frustration, just thinking to myself that i should either get a new "foot pump" or find a new cycle repair shop, to help filling up air]
I then parked the bike in my flat and decided to go for a run, instead of the planned cycle ride. Many thoughts went through my head, as i ran around the boat club area -
  • Is my relationship with that cycle shop guy, bad? - Afterall, i go to him every alternate day and share stories of my cycling trips with him and we are quite friendly.
  • Is he the worst business man? - He just antagonised a regular customer. I go to him so regularly, that i would surely pay the Rs.2 , next time i go there.
  • Am going to get a new foot pump from the sports store! I was so tempted to go ahead and get the pump, that day itself

These thoughts were slowly laid to rest and as i reach my home , i wanted to go back to the shop to inflate the tyres [ With the intention of actually letting him know that he should've trusted me earlier in the morning].

I go there with a bunch of Rs.2 coins and park the cycle in front of the shop. I take the Rs.2 coin, trust it in the guy's hands and i ask him to inflate the tyres. He does the job and asks me to check the tyres for "correct" inflation ! I cycle around the place and give him a "Thumbs up".

He then comes to me and says this " Sir, Saaarrie sir. You were the "first customer" when you came at 6:15 am. And i didnt want start the day off by giving "credit" to someone. I believe, if i did that, then the outlook for the rest of the day would be similar"! [Motal customerkku "kadan" kodutha, naal fulla kadan thaaan sir]

I just laughed at that and cycled away...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ha Ha Ha...Every Act has a reasoning,we just have to know what it is???But not having 2 rupees?Gawd...I have only chillare(Coins) in my wallet most of the time ;-)

Karthikeyan (KK) said...

Archu - I got a "light" wallet! Only notes in 100's!!

Yes, every act has a reason. But the reasons sometime, totally humble us!

Unknown said...

now this is called "sports disaster"