BIG John doesn’t pay!!

One fine day, a bus driver went to the bus garage, started the bus and drove off along the route. No problems for the few first stops, few people got on, few got off, and things went generally well.

At the next stop, a big hulk of a guy got on. Six feet eight, built like a wrestler, arms hanging down to the ground. He stared at the driver and said, “BIG John doesn’t pay”

And sat down at the back....

The driver was naturally weak, little and shorter than big John,so he didn’t argue with big John,but he wasn’t happy about it, the next day the same thing happened-big John got on again, made a show of refusing to pay, and sat down, and the next day and so on…

This grated on the bus driver, who started losing sleep over the way big John was taking advantage of him. Finally he could tolerate it no longer, he signed up for body building courses, karate, judo and all that good stuff.

By the end of the summer, he had become quite strong: what’s more, he felt really good about himself. So on the next Monday, when big John once again got on the bus and said “big John doesn’t pay”, the driver stood up, stared back at big John, and screamed “and why not?
With a surprised look on his face, big John replied “big John has a bus pass”

Management lesson: “ First be sure and pay more attention to source of problems before working hard to solve one. ”

I think the lesson here is that ' Out of every Adversity there is a seed of Equal or Greater opportunity.' The bus driver's self image increased, thanks to Big John!

When I think of similar adversity, one of the incident stands out in my mind. After completing my Masters in Design from IIT-B in 2003, there was recession in the software field. So there were no jobs for many of us. After mastering the design in design school, we were eager to do something and make our mark. So I took up a job in a private academy teaching animation to students/professionals etc. The work was interesting, though not great paying, but I was happy anyways. I had no big responsibilities, was newly married, living in totally new city, making new contacts there. My boss was totally opposite of what I would have wanted in my first employer.  He literally exploited my skills in animation to sell/advertise his academy and didn't pay much for the 14-16 hours of hard work I put in. I liked my work and did it whole heartedly. I would come to the academy early morning 7-8am. Be there till night 11-12pm. I would go home on my Kinetic Honda scooter late in the night and would be singing in my helmet so loudly and happily, thinking that today was a great day. One such night, as I just left for home after midnight, driving full speed since there is no one on the road except few dogs and few people in cafe/pubs. A dog ran across the street and to avoid running over it, I applied brakes with all my might and the scooter rolled over. We were like a mountain of mess on the road. Road, me, scooter on me, then dog. The dog barked, got up and ran away. I had fainted. Some stranger took me to hospital. I had fracture on collar bone and many bruises all over. Same stranger called the last few dials on my cellphone and contacted Harit. I was in bed for few months. Lost the job and hope. My Boss never even inquired as to how I was recovering. I was totally bedridden, so our landlady would come and make me sit and comb my hair and talk to me while Harit would be away in office. He would pack some lunch and come back and then again go to office. In the evening a new book or magazine would be in his hand to help me keep my thoughts in positive direction. One such buying outing, he met a guy who worked in Software company buying a design magazine. They exchanged few words and Harit found out that he was my senior(10 years senior actually) and that they were looking for Information Architects in their team. Suddenly that hope to work in a good software company came alive after many months and I send in my resume. We had few phone interviews and I got selected. They gave me two months to rest and recover completely before I join. The pay, without saying was great ego booster!

So here I was all depressed when the accident happened and I sat in the bed for months together reading and polishing my design thought process and the opportunity presented itself. 

When you have prepared, the opportunity will come. And, out of every Adversity there is a seed of Equal or Greater opportunity.

What do you think?