Don’t Be Lazy, 50/50

 

In short I think people are lazy these days.

What ever happened to the service industry, when people were proud to work?

Bin men for instance:

In the UK there was a time when the bin man would walk down the garden path, collect your bins from the back of the house and carry them to the truck before emptying them, AND THEN BRINGING THEM BACK FOR YOU.

The only complaint was an occasional early wake up call from an accidental metal bin lid clattering to the floor.

These days YOU have to take the bin to the roadside, and as close to the truck as you can, because the truck has a machine to lift and empty them (well we wouldn’t want a bin man to get his hands dirty now would we).

Oh, and you better not overfill it by an inch or it will be left standing at the roadside, still full, alongside any spillages they may have caused.
As i remember, the bin wagons of yesteryear used to have a brush with them, can you imagine that!

All of this was triggered by events throughout yesterday starting with my popping in to Asda/Walmart to pick up a few simple items.
After finishing the little amount of shopping I had to grab I was lost to find any checkout staff, instead I was ushered to a self-service belt.

Quickly I learned how to scan, bag up, pay and leave, all myself and with not a word to spoken to anyone.

Very odd and very impersonal, I mean, I know it’s not the Ritz, but still, not even so much as a, “How do you do?”

From there I went to fill up at the petrol station.
Now again, there used to be a time when we had a pump attendant, someone who would come out to greet you and fill the tank or ask how much fuel you required (sometimes even clean the windscreen!).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it needs to be quite like that now, but after I filled up I then had to drive to the window the self serv window, where a lady simply handed (through the tiny window) a credit card payment machine and went back to her reading.
I agreed the amount by pressing the allocated key, then entered my pin, waited to remove my card and finally swapped the machine back for a receipt.  I couldn’t help myself saying, “Sorry, got to go now, haven’t got time to chat!”

Next door to the petrol station was a McDonald’s, so I called in to pick up a snack, or so I thought.

There, I was shocked to see a counter, literally a counter, that was it, no staff, no cash registers, just a counter.

Over to the side wall there was a row of huge screens where you were expected to place your own order, choose the size, choose your drink, choose extras and then pay.

Now I love gadgets but I’m not a technical person, but when it gets to point that I cannot even order lunch, what is going on?
I managed everything except the final hurdle, getting the massive TV screen to accept my order, in my shame I lowered my head and left the building.  I didn’t eat.

The real issue here is that the service industries that are left we put too much emphasis on them, like teachers.

So many times we here of parents blaming the system, the school and the teachers because their child is lower than average at reading, but what have the parents done to contribute to their child’s education?

Nothing.

These people are expecting to send the little ones off in the morning and have them return as some kind of genius in the afternoon.
It doesn’t work like that, YOU have to spend time with them and YOU have to read to them, don’t be lazy, help them, learn together and make it enjoyable.

And all too often it’s the same story for martial arts schools, “Teach me to defend myself” they say.
These are the students that just want to be spoon-fed.

Blaming the school for a lack of children’s reading ability is similar in many ways to Wing Chun schools, we hear students say, “I’m no good because the teacher didn’t teach anything”.

Unfortunately sometimes, this is true, when students are restricted in their growth, prevented from seeing what else is out there or made to feel guilty for asking too many questions.

When this is the case there is reason to wonder if this is because the teacher doesn’t actually know enough him/herself to move you further?

Sifu Ip Chun said to me,

“50% of your Wing Chun training will come from me, and the other 50% from your self”.

 

I do not see this lazy attitude to work, the service industry or training as healthy for the world.

We live in a world of fast food and fast delivery.

Local shops began to closed down as there was more choice to be found in city centres, then what happened?  The shops in city centres started to close down due to greedy car parking fees and large developments emerging in the suburbs, accompanied I might add, with the lure of free parking.

Now the complexes are beginning to close due to lack of interest there, after constantly going to these stores only to be told that the item you wanted is not in stock, “But don’t worry we can order it in and have it in a week”. What!

Or if they do have it in, it’s more expensive than you saw on their site, “Oh well that’s the online price Sir, not in store”.
Well why did I bother driving out here in the first place!

I can understand this a little, the store has rent and rates, utility bills and of course, wages to pay.

But why would you bother travelling to the shops when Amazon will have it at your door the very next morning?

I even heard the other day that in America they have been using driverless taxis!
For goodness sake does nobody want to work?
I know it’s more like nobody wants to pay wages, but where will it end?

So here I am saying that people do not go to shops when they can buy it online, so is this what I am suggesting about your Wing Chun training?
NO.

WingChun.Online is there as a support to your classes, not as a substitute, and we should all be open-minded enough to realize we can all learn something from everyone.

Of course if you have no classes available to you (or one that is reputable anyway) then yes, we are to be used as a substitute, with you creating your own training group, but guided and tutored by us.

But once again I come back to the main point.

Do not expect to be spoon-fed.

Do not be lazy.

“50% of your Wing Chun training will come from me, and the other 50% from yourself”.

At WingChun.Online, everything is offered to you, the entire system, openly taught, with no secrets and no restrictions, just straight forward tuition, but you must remember again,

50% comes from your teacher and 50% from your self.

 

So don’t be lazy, make the effort, it WILL take time, but it WILL be worth it.