Going Against the Age

In one of the posh colonies of the city there was once a man who roamed about, calling out: “Utensil polisher, utensil polisher!”

Although he kept moving about along all the streets of the colony, nobody paid him any attention. He could not find any work in this vicinity.

Was it a matter of prejudice, or did people not pay any attention to the man because of their vanity or arrogance or pride? Perhaps the man thought like this. An illiterate man, he had inherited this job from his forefathers and remained engaged in this work for forty years. With this background his mind had become so conditioned to this job that he could not think of anything else.

But one who is aware of the world beyond his profession, who can think beyond his own sphere, can easily understand why he did not get work in this colony. The simple reason was that this sort of work was done only on utensils of copper or brass, while the residents of the colony were now using utensils of stainless steel. Now this being so, how could he get work polishing copper and brass utensils?

To achieve success in the present times, one should acknowledge the need of the times. One should be aware of present day requirements. Anyone who does not grasp this will meet with the same fate as the above mentioned man. He will keep roaming about among people who use stainless steel utensils and will find no customers. He will accuse others of discrimination for his failure and blame others for his ignorance of the changing requirements of the times.

People who want to succeed in life, regardless of which profession they have chosen, must keep abreast of the times. In this age of science, where merit counts, to do otherwise is to descend the slippery slope to failure.