Do it Yourself and Do it Right

I once made a post here where I talked about how my hostel president happens to be someone who isn't bold enough to talk to a crowd, so I had to step up and do that for him because my hostel was starting to misbehave more than usual and someone had to remind them of the rules.

Well, one of the rules they got reminded of the night of the meeting was the time we usually close the hostel gate. Before our previous Caretaker left the hostel, she made sure to enforce the 10pm rule which states that the hostel gates should be closed by 10pm sharp and anyone who comes to the hostel after 10pm will either pay a fine before the gate is opened for him or her, or they would have to return back to where they came from.

It was a rule she was very strict with and everyone obeyed it without complaining because while 10pm might seem too early to retire for the night for some people, our safety was the topmost priority because thieves have been known to rob hostels during that time.

But unfortunately, the old caretaker got replaced by a man who doesn't live in the hostel with us. So a lot of the rules got trashed because there was no one to enforce them. One of the trashed rules had been the locking of the gate by 10pm but then something happened one evening, one of the generators in the hostel got stolen and even though the thief was later caught, I vowed never again would something like that happen under my watch.

So I had reminded everyone about the rules during the meeting and I was sure many of them had thought I was joking and they probably didn't take me seriously, so I showed them I wasn't the kind of guy to bluff. It was my job to ensure the safety of the hostel and also that everyone follows the rules and regulations.

So that same night the meeting was held, I had gone and locked the gate at exactly 10pm. More than half the population of the hostel were locked out and after raising their voices, shouting at me, they soon realized that I wasn't going to move, so they resorted to pleading with me. I finally let them in while sternly warning them against it repeating next time.

But of course I still had some stubborn ones who also arrived after 10pm the next day and I made sure everyone of them paid the fine before letting them in. I continued like that and it's been weeks now and it's almost as if everyone has gotten the memo because I hardly meet anyone outside anyone once it's past ten, which to me is a huge improvement.

I guess at the end of it all, what this has thought me is that if you want something done, you have to do it yourself and you have to be serious about it, so serious that people will get scared of joking with you when it comes to that thing.

_{Photo by Jack Sharp}