For some years, I have travelled to a small but beautiful place called Vomperberg in the Schwaz district of Austria.
One of the highlights of my visits would be to take a long walk with my friend along the mountainous paths to the nearest town, Vomp, in the same district.
It is usually so satisfying to feast my eyes on the beautiful flowers hanging from the different balconies lining the paths, the lawns exuding so much life that you know, even without asking, that love for beauty reigns in the hearts of those dwelling here.
It would be best if you visited there too.
But that’s a story for another day.
Now, there is this Airport shuttle service, Four Seasons, that I have always booked for my airport transfers.
Whether from Munich (about two hours from Vomperberg) or Innsbruck (about 25-minute drive), Four Seasons has always been reliable, efficient and convenient.
Anyway, during the last week in August, I went on yet another trip to Vomperberg and had booked Four Seasons beforehand.
Because I couldn’t pay directly on their website while booking, as the norm, I asked to be allowed to give cash to the driver who would pick me up at the airport, and they gladly acquiesced.
This time there was an incident.
They picked me up along with others from the airport, going my way. Exhausted from the trip, I slept through the journey from Munich to Vomperberg.
When I arrived at my accommodation on Vomperberg, the driver who had alighted to bring out my luggage gave me a Business Card and tried to explain to me in German, mixed with insufficient English, that I should call a number on the card and follow their guideline on how to replace my luggage which he had damaged.
He spoke mainly in German, and even though I’m mortified to admit this, my German is still pitiable despite years of effort.
So, it didn’t quite sink in what he was trying to convey. However, when it finally registered, I was aghast. What?!! How did this happen? I asked him in English.
It took an individual, just one person, who decided that doing the right thing was worth it to kick the entire chain into motion
He replied in German and explained that it fell when he was trying to load the luggage at the airport, and here we are. It must have been such a bad fall and from a terrible angle to have damaged such a new bag so badly.
After recovering from the shock, I asked him if he had notified them at his office; he said he had. He even appeared slightly offended that I could imply that he could hide such.
I saw the accusation in his eyes. He told me that he already made the report before we left the airport and that the manager directed him to give me the business card.
Yes, there is a system in place for incidents like this.
Yes, provisions have been made to ensure that when they happen, they are resolved with minimal discomfort to all parties involved, thereby shelving avoidable conflicts and their unintended consequences. Yes, yes, yes.
But you know what? It took an individual, just one person, who decided that doing the right thing was worth it to kick the entire chain into motion.
Imagine momentarily if he had failed to stand at his duty post when it mattered most.
In fact, let’s imagine it together.
I would discover the broken luggage perhaps while unpacking in my room, and then confusion about when and how it happened would set in.
Then I would finally decide that it must have occurred with Four Seasons’ staff since I didn’t notice the damage when I picked up the luggage at the carousel.
But you see, I still would need to be sure.
But let’s assume I rightly concluded that the Four Seasons driver was the culprit, and then I sent them an email detailing the damage; even with photos, it could still have meant nothing.
I could explain till the end of time, but there won’t be any conclusive evidence.
As they say in Nigeria, ‘You go explain tire, no evidence!’
Then, the typical back and forth would ensue, probably eliciting negative and unworthy emotions from both ends, soiling a relationship that has been beautiful since 2015, and perhaps, even ending only when lawyers get involved.
Systems only work when the individuals in them do their part at every phase of every process
Human and material resources that could have gone into more constructive endeavours would have been wasted, needlessly.
And do you know on whose door the final blame would be laid?
Yes, you guessed right: The System.
Some would even go as far as to finger racism.
Some would say, ‘I’m sure it’s because you’re black that this is happening. Would they do the same to their people?’ They would go on and on.
But no, this would be one person who has stood in the way of the system.
The more I reflect on this story of my damaged luggage and how it’s being resolved, the more I realise how we have all missed it in Nigeria because we have individually refused to do the right thing.
And then we always turn around to blame the system.
When it’s not the system, we blame the leadership or whoever is currently at the helm of affairs.
We never narrow it down to that one man as we should; you or I choosing to do the right thing all the time.
That’s the only way a kind, excellent, efficient system is created and sustained.
There can never be a shortcut.
But we never take responsibility.
Instead, we seek always to fill in the emptiness our rascality and waywardness have created with stale jokes and rhetoric.
But who are we fooling?
Systems only work when the individuals in them do their part at every phase of every process.
We are the system, and the system is us.
