Manny Teodoro

On Mutual Respect

As the director and anchor of an investigative news format for a local TV network in Colombia, South America, I get the privilege of travelling to many neighbouring countries to produce stories. I don’t get to do a whole lot of sightseeing in those countries but when I do find an extra hour or extra day, I take full advantage.

Recently, I travelled to a country not far from Colombia. While there, I had a day off and decided to visit a small city several hours by bus from the hustle and bustle of the capital. When I got off the bus, I noticed that there was a bicycle rental kiosk in the corner. It was a sunny Sunday; seeing beautiful Valparaiso, Chile by bike seemed tantalising. So I rented one. 18 dollars a day on my credit card and the deal was done.

Right when I was about to ride off in my spanking new rented bike, I realised that the man at the kiosk had forgotten to give me a lock. So I went back.

“Would you be kind enough to lend me a lock?” I asked him.

“What for?” he responded.

“To keep my bike safe while I make pit stops. Someone might steal it,” I replied.

“Who will steal it?” he asked.

He looked genuinely puzzled. I started to wonder if this elderly man named Marcelo may have been either senile or was playing with my mind in some way. All I wanted was a simple lock and couldn’t understand why this was becoming such an issue. So I blurted out: “A thief! A thief might steal it!”