MIDDLE CLASS HYPOCRISY

Why do people become hypocritical once they accumulate a decent sum of money? I often see this in middle-income groups. This class of people being a virtual minority till a few years back is now powerful enough to influence the thinking of the political class of today.

First, we all have seen how women argue with rickshaw pullers, vegetable vendors for the sake of three or four rupees. The very same people keep their mouth shut and pay happily when a specialist doctor charges 150 or 200 rupees all for prescribing a vitamin tablet. They often forget that these people toil all day often facing the ire of policemen and others and very much unlike the neighborhood doctor, don’t have the pleasure of working in air-conditioned rooms.

The same is true for all other cases. We argue with the plumber, the sewage cleaner but are willing to pay at any length for our facial massage at various parlors. I don’t think any of us would like to stand at the place where the sewage cleaner is working but would argue with him for fifty rupees for the sake of his services.

Next we (I too belong to this class!!) believe that if a product is costly then it is obviously clean and adheres to all possible standards. We are of the opinion that products are costly because they have been prepared in a clean environment. Well it is true but that does not warrant such skyrocketing prices. I happened to have coffee with my cousin in one of the premier coffee shops in the city. I was astonished to see the bill. Two hundred rupees for two cappuccinos!

Well I can definitely say that the drink was good and creamy. But I can’t imagine why they charge so much for a cup of coffee! Coming to the topic, my cousin suggested that they charge so much because of the quality of the product and the service offered. He said that there is a world of difference in having a coffee here than on a roadside coffee shop. Well the experience was good, but why such a high price. I bluntly told him that we are charged such high rates because people like us can afford to pay that much.

The reason I say this that the very same people who pay so much for a cup of coffee think a hundred times before buying at the road side vendor even if he is selling vegetables or tender coconut. “Not at that road side vendor dude!” my friend would say. One needs to understand that quality lies in the raw material procured and the way in which it is preserved and not necessarily in the gloss around the product or the packaging of the product.

The point I would like to make is that we pay for product or service without making noises when it involves so called specialized workers but argue at great lengths when it involves peasants and poor labourers! I just wish that people would be more considerate towards their fellow human beings the next time they buy something from them or use any of their services.