What times those of the grandparents! Every once in a while I remember them not only because of the personal gratification of remembering happy times with the family, but also because whoever gave his word when taking on a job kept it to the letter, a handshake was enough and the deal was done.
The word given was the main business card, and I do not mention that any contract was signed, there was such a degree of reliability that the fact of verbally expressing the commitment to execute such a task, such an assignment, was enough.
This was the degree of credibility that emanated from the image of the operator, the bricklayer, the auto mechanic, the plumber, the shoemaker, the blacksmith and countless people who were kind enough to offer their services and fulfill them with quality and on time. agreed.
But these days, unfortunately, we cannot feel certain that what has been agreed will generally have a good ending.
And certainly, it is not that a genetic degeneration has occurred in some people and has disrupted their respect for whoever commissions a job, it is not at all clinical but it does greatly undermine their scale of ethical values, of lack of consideration, and I would say more of impaired dignity.
We do not promise something that we do not know if we are going to fulfill. They say that time gives and takes away the reason, but let’s not let the word dirty the truth and that our authentic business card before others is a farce.
For days I have been observing how, despite a signed contract, the representative of an automobile cooperative is giving deadlines and evasions, and has already accumulated nine months without having complied with what was stipulated in the repair of a car.
Faced with so much non-compliance, there would be no better measure than to terminate the contract, not pay for the small part that has been done and even ask for compensation for lost time; however, the affected person has given him another chance to prove that human enhancement can still be trusted.
It is worrying to note that relying on the pledged word has become synonymous with naivety and risk in many cases.
Every day we find facts like the one of the automotive cooperative. If we quickly review what is happening in our environment, in our house in need of delayed repair due to the lack of a compliant bricklayer, or that neighbor who chose to take on the plumbing work himself in his house due to the bad experience with the plumber , then we will conclude that whoever takes the value of his word lightly does not know how lethal it can become in the respect that others have for him.
It would be worth it that in our society we advocate revitalizing that concept called “word of honor”, as it represents a pillar of integrity and coherence, of respect for others.
