Miniature Mechanic

Today I was getting ready to leave for a trip and really needed to have my motorcycle serviced before I left. I had made the mistaken assumption that “serviced” meant a check/change of the fluids, but I was about to get a serious lesson.

After I pulled in and told them what I wanted a guy who couldn’t have been more than about thirteen came over, got the keys, and proceeded to take parts off the bike. I asked him if I could watch, and he was dumbfounded. I explained how my family usually “serviced” our own cars in the States, but that I was new to the whole motorcycle concept and wanted to see how it was done so that I might could do it myself the next time. He seemed a little embarrassed to have the white guy looking over his shoulder, but he smiled sheepishly and said “Sure.”

So it began…and I’m telling you, I’d never seen anything like this guy. In a country where most people are in no rush to do anything (unless they are driving, getting off a plane, or waiting in line), this kid was like a whirlwind. He spun and flitted around and in an hour’s time he had totally dismantled the bike, disconnected and disassembled the carburetor, cleaned it, changed the oil, and put it all back together without any power tools except an air compressor to blow everything off with.

Then I went to pay…the oil itself was about $2.50. Then came the labor…$17…no, wait…he didn’t say $17, he said $1.70!

So I asked again to clarify, “the labor is $1.70?”
“Yes, that’s right.”

“Less than the oil?”

“Yes.”

“Ok, then”

So I walked out having paid less than $5 for the whole thing—more than half of which was for the oil. I profusely thanked my young friend, and left with a new understanding of what it means to live on the most populated island in the world. Here the laborers are plentiful…it’s the jobs that are hard to come by.