No Action Talk Talk Talk Only

Have you ever happened to see a late nite commercials on TV from one of cigarette brands? A man was talking on an intercom to call a security officer because the gate was closed. At the same time, nobody was at the post. As a result, there was a long line of vehicles in front of the gate waiting for it to open. Out of the blue, another man at the very back line decided to get out of his car, rode his folding bike, and maneuvered amidst the traffic jam. He could then pass the long queue and open the gate. The long line disappeared as the gate opened. However, the first man kept on talking on the intercom without doing anything. In fact, he was the only man left there. Unfortunately, he is around us, or perhaps there is him in ourselves. No action, talk, talk, talk only.

First thing that comes into my mind when watching that commercial is that how spoiled and dependent we are. We tend to be reluctant in doing simple thing when we have been in certain position. Take the man in the commercial for example. He was a young executive so opening the gate is a low-level activity for him. How about us? Arriving at home, we often just stay in the car and and call the maid to open the gate for us. In fact, getting off the car, walking a few meters, and unlocking the gate are not time and energy consuming though. It really shows how lazy we are. We are so spoiled that we are unable to solve a simple problem independently.

God doesn't try to joke by giving us a set of brain that consists of 2 parts (right and left), 2 eyes, 2 ears, 2 arms, 2 legs and 1 mouth for some reasons. We are supposed to use them to finish our problems. Before solving problems, we are supposed to observe, listen and work our brain to find ways. Next, we can try to fix the problem with our hands. Not everyone can do everything though. So, we can walk to find our friends and ask them to help us when we cannot handle the mess ourselves. However, some of us just sit and grumble and often times bother others who are supposed to be disturbed by our mess.

My late mom who wasn't either a scholar nor a supermom used to say, " Nggoleki barang ilang kui nganggo mata karo tangan, ora nganggo cang***". (When you search a lost item, use your eyes and hands, not mouth). She used to say that whenever I grumbled because I couldn't find my lost belonging. That utterance worked and has still been working well on me despite the simple and rather gross vocabulary she made. Now I just realize why she rarely helped me whenever i got upset on losing things.

Therefore, doing something is better than just grumbling. Other people have their own things to do, not just to help us all the time.