What local Guides mean to me: Power, responsibility and a sense of belonging!
I rainy Sunday afternoon in Manila; I walked into a store looking for bed-sheets for the new house we had moved in. Despite waiting for a good 15-minutes for the store attendant to support us with our request, no one turned up. Finally, I walked up to a staff and requested them for support to show us bed-sheets. He had little knowledge of the store products and passed us on to his colleague who wasn’t helpful either. After spending another futile 30 mins in the store, we left the store not happy with the kind of treatment we had been met with. While I usually let such instances pass, this time around I felt that I needed to act up on it. I reviewed the store on the Google platform and shared my poor experience of dealing with the staff. To my surprise, I found many people who have had similar experiences at the store.
Eventually, the store owner contacted us and apologized for the poor experience we had. He also assured us of steps he would be taking to improve the experience of customers who visit the store. Finally he dropped in a word saying that we should re-visit the store for a better experience suggesting that we would be in for a surprise and we would perhaps review the store differently.
Talk about real power! This is how it possibly looks like…
‘With great power, comes great responsibility!’
Couldn’t have been more true in this case. The platform and the supporting community empowers me to make a difference in the lives of the people it serves. Just adding you’re the small neighborhood store on the maps for it to be discovered by people or positively reviewing a store or a restaurant which you have enjoyed your visit to is perhaps the best way to thank the owners. Not just would they get additional business, but would also help many others like yourself who would want a positive experience from their shopping or dining experience.
Through the local guides community, I have had the opportunity to make friends from places all over the world. Importantly we share the common belief of bringing together small acts (through contributions and reviews) to make the world a better place. I have had an opportunity to learn about cultures and philosophies of fellow local guides- people from diverse backgrounds which I would never have had. Eventually we are all united by a common sense of belonging- to contribute significantly to this thriving community and with every small contribution or every added picture or a review, we are in our own ways making the world a more connected and a better informed place.
Siddharth Wadehra