It is not just bad taste, poor manners, lack of empathy - or simply just being a jerk. Self-promotion is a crime.
And
especially so in Japanese culture! I am not kidding: a poor Japanese
craftsman would rather commit a harakiri than post a message on Facebook
about the knife he hand-polished for 3 months to perfection. He would
rather take 40 lashes with the cane for failing, than one compliment for
achieving perfection. Strange.
It
is
funny, but while the Anglo-Saxon culture has almost nothing in common
with the oriental one, self-promotion is a sin even in our little
colony.
Crocodile-wrestling-tough-as-nail
sun burnt Aussies crawl under the rock at the very thought of even
being in the same room as a self-promoter. Nearly a hundred years of
exposure to Greek-ism, Balkan-ism and Latino-sim (the cradle cultures of
macho-self-promotion) made our good Aussies even more resistant and
more sceptical to any form of advertising with even the slightest hint
of 'yeah, sure, we can do this'.
"Wait
until they discover
your talent" say Mosman mums to their daughters as they jump out of
mega-monster 4WD’s, being dropped in front of $40K per year schools.
"Wait until they discover your talent" say dads dropping off boys at
multi-billion dollar ovals. And make no mistake, like mums and dads,
these very kids are already driving their own E-class Mercedes and
wearing gold watches – and they play great cricket. But to tell anyone
how good they are would be totally inappropriate. "Wait until they
discover your talent" is what every 12 year old surfer hears every time
he eats his vegemite. Be modest, be humble, be invisible; let others see
what you are really worth and give you the credit you deserve.
But
life is no
longer as it once was. "Others" are no longer a passive audience quietly
waiting for the next Sir Bradman. "Others" are us: posting selfies on
FB, Instagramming, chatting, and simply being alive; connecting, talking
and sharing.
You
see, I don't mind modesty. Actually, I much prefer to wait 'to be
discovered' than to self-promote myself. But on the other hand, I am not
a big fan of posthumous awards either.
Right
now, as I type this, we have a great need for a 10 tonne forklift to
move some equipment; we need an energetic and reliable office assistant;
a smart
and hard-working apprentice keen to learn about watches; a photographer
who won't charge an arm and a leg; a reliable local server to host our
new website; a 2KV petrol generator (not too loud!), an oven for steel
hardening, a polishing machine - which comes with expert advice and the
right polishing compounds. And we are not any different to other small
Australian businesses. Yet somehow, those who are experts in their
fields are often hard to find - because they have always been told the
same old thing; "wait until they discover you".
This
week a rebelde-owner brought in his 3 year old watch for a minor
adjustment. However, he wore that watch daily so it was heavily
scratched. So we decided to surprise him:
We pulled the watch completely apart, serviced it, polished the case,
fitted a new winding crown and seals - and even fitted a brand new
leather strap. Total charge: zero. Why? Because we simply want to show
him what we can do, and how proud we are of our workmanship. And how
much we appreciate the fact that out of hundreds of brands he put his
trust in rebelde.
And here we go - I just committed the worst crime ever: I self-promoted.
Guillotiner, make it quick.
Nick
 |
| Completely overhauled relbede I09 ready to be returned to its owner |
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