(Leica X1)
A wise lady friend of mine living in OZ has won herself a number of awards and medals for her life-long contributions to the environment, one of which was awarded to her by a former OZ Prime Minister which she, unfortunately, like many Aussies, distastes. But she has lots of wisdom in life to face even more paradoxical situations. I have the privilege to learn from her some of my fondest, one of which is that she thinks most people, when left to their own devices, worry too much for nothing. Seize the day, she always says, because when the chance is gone, it is gone and will very likely never come back to you again. Seize the day or stand to lose. She summarised this saying, "You can't worry about everything."
This is easier said than done. An extreme fictitious example. A man goes into a a tailor shop and asks for a made-to-order shirt. After much fuss about the measuring and going through the fabrics and colours of choice, he is asked to make a down payment just to be sure. He fumbles for the money notes in his pocket but then the tailor says he must make some proof that he will surely come back for the shirt when it is ready. The man's temper rises but falls gently – he thinks, okay, maybe the old tailor has a bad past experience for that. As he compliantly hands over his business card, the tailor opens his mouth, pursing and un-pursing, and finally has the balls to utter, "Sir, for a bespoken item, I actually need to keep a copy of your identity card or passport with your company's stamp on it for security reasons." By this time, I am sure the man feels being ridiculed enough to get back the money notes, business card and take to the door at once.
Surprisingly, we are usually the tailor ourselves. We always worry too much.
So, I shouldn't be surprised to be in a similar tailor-shop situation recently where a PR personnel kept asking for proof for the loan camera items for testing. Every time, it was said to be company policy or for security's reasons. Finally I was asked for extra personal information for proof. Fact is, enough personal information has been handed over. I was supposed to get the valuable items today but wrote to voice out my bottom line and give up the loan deal at the last minute, not for security reasons but for being ridiculed enough (BTW, the loan conditions include being held responsible for "any scratches" on the camera – I have never come across such a harsh one. What the!). You can't just worry about everything. Not for security reasons.
So, no testing for the pro camera and lenses. But I feel better without.
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