Saturday 8 October 2011

Money is yours, but resources belong to society - Food - Most importantly!


~By Anonymous! Contributed by Bharath JN, Bangalore, INDIA

Germany is a highly industrialized country. It produces top brands like Benz, BMW, and Siemens etc. The nuclear reactor pump is made in a small town in this country. In such a country, many think, its people lead a luxurious life. At least that was my impression, before this study trip of mine.

When I arrived at Hamburg. My colleagues, who work in Hamburg arranged a welcome party for me, in a  really nice restaurant. As we walked into the restaurant, we noticed, that a lot of tables were empty. There was one table where a young couple was seated, enjoying a meal. But, there were only two dishes and two cans of beer on the table. We wondered if such simple meal could be romantic, and whether the girl would 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. My impression again was, they could not afford much, but anyways, We did not pay much attention to them, as we were looking forward to the dishes we ordered. We were really hungry, and hence 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 nosy.
 
We said: "We paid for our food, it's none of your business, how much food we leave behind," my colleague Gui told the old ladies.

The old ladies got furious, and one of them immediately made a call to someone. After a while, a man in uniform arrived, claimed to be an officer from the Social Security organization. Upon knowing what the dispute was, he issued a 50 Mark fine on us. 
We all kept quiet. The local colleague, then took out a 50 Mark note and repeatedly apologized to the officer. 

The officer then 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.´”

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 might be from countries which may not have as much resources, we need to be more watchful while consuming and more respectful towards resources.

To save face, we order large quantities of food, and also waste food when we treat our friends, families and relatives

THIS INCIDENT, TAUGHT US A BIG LESSON, TO THINK SERIOUSLY, ABOUT CHANGING OUR BAD HABITS!!!

WE PLEDGE NOT TO WASTE ANYMORE, WHAT ABOUT YOU?

4 comments:

  1. This is just so inspiring - to know such a place exists. Let this be the case in every single country, state, city and area through 36meals.com! Food should not get wasted anywhere! I can just visualize that. Thanks a lot for the article Mr.Bharath JN!
    I pledge not to waste food.

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  2. i agree with shruti mam . resources belong to the society . i pledge not to waste food any more and pass on this message to the world .i feel its our responsibility to make the world bit more responsible . THANK U BHARATH SIR :)

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  3. Why cant this be implemented everywhere. People need to realise the value of one morsel of food, especially in a highly populated country like ours.Lets do whatever we can to get the word out. i urge you to please share this blog address with all your friends.

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  4. An awesome blog undoubtedly. God really amazing. But what are you carrying from here is what matters. Do we really have to sit and wait for someone to correct us!! Why don't we take an initiative to do it by ouselves and try and be a self leader. Worst part is we start justifying for whatever we do, inspite of knowing it is wrong(like in 6th para of this article). Come on friends. It is high time shall we learn from here and do something. At least the best possible from our side? yes for the same reason am supporting this cause and I know ppl around are getting awakened by this initiative. Hats off!! Go on.. Let's do it!

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