Yesterday I wanted to buy a Financial Calculator. I went to Frys and rather than getting lost in the place (It’s true – any geek can get lost in that place) I thought of saving time and asked someone on the floor for directions. His response “I don’t know what is a financial calculator. I don’t think we sell them here.” I gave him a puzzled look. The person seemed confused but by the way I looked at him, he must have thought it must be a common item and asked one of his colleagues – “Hey, you don’t think we carry Financial calculators. Do you?” and his colleague validated his beliefs.

I was only convinced about one thing – that these two people were not convinced about their own answer.

I walked around and asked another person about this. He was not sure either but he did something else. He said he knew where all the calculators were placed and volunteered to walk me there. I did find a Financial calculator and this person was curious enough to ask me a few questions related to the calculator. Before he left the place, he thanked me for answering his questions and said “At least next time when someone asks me, I will be better prepared.”

Hunger for knowledge is very important. The first two people took the easy route. They didn’t know what was a financial calculator which was not a problem. But they didn’t care to know. That, was a big problem.