"You learn how to be book smart in school, but you better not forget that you also need to be street smart"
Harvey Mackay
Is it really possible to separate book smarts and street smarts in a person? Maybe it is or not, but if you ask me, I will tell you that everyone needs both to survive in our world that is mixed with different characters. As we go about our day-to-day activities, we exhibit our book smartness, and in most cases, street smarts are also needed, otherwise you will be cheated and considered a mugger. Staring at this topic, I had a quick reflection on my days without being street smart. I was a bookaholic, so attached to my book that I wouldn't give attention to anything outside of church and academics. I was naive and was cheated on several occasions, which made me really ashamed of myself. When I looked at the happenings closely, I chose not to be so hard on myself because of the environment in which I was raised. It really contributed to my not being smart on the street. If you can agree with me, your environment has a great influence on your life. It's so heavy in my mouth to disclose the issues on which I was cheated in those days, but the good side is that everything has changed now. I am now both book- and street-wise, always alert in my environment, and I will not be cheated by those who love outsmarting others at every given opportunity.
Book smart is all about applying the knowledge we get from reading books and those that were taught to us in school to our real lives. Most of our daily activities are evidence of our book smartness. A lot of the decisions we make in life and lots of the calculations we make on how to go about our plans were all achieved through our book smartness. Even now that I am preparing for a trip, I have sat down to do lots of analysis; the social and financial aspects, as well as book smart played a role. Virtually in all of our daily activities, we apply book smart, and even for me to be able to approach different topics and write about them, it's still book smart, but c'mon, not everything that is being taught in school or being read from a book, and that's a good reason why we also need to be street smart.
"Street smart" has to do with our life experiences and how we deal with issues in our environment and succeed. If you live in a state like mine (Lagos, Nigeria) without being smart, sorry is your name, because both in hospitals, in the market, at school, and in churches, you will be outsmarted by different people if you act dumb. I have seen a non-graduate secure a good position for himself here in Lagos because of his smartness. Mixing up with people of different characters out there in the street is inevitable unless you choose to remain indoors. I have exhibited my street smarts through my experience so far in the state, and it has saved me from unnecessary issues, but I will share with you the one that happened just two days ago.
I went to the market to have my smaller phone fixed. I didn't go to the store because I figured out that it would be more costly, and since it was not my Android phone but just a little phone I do keep at home in case I need to contact my children, I decided to fix it with roadside phone repairers. These guys are street guys who love outsmarting customers, but I have gathered enough street experience in Lagos that I will not fall into their cheap trap.
I was in a hurry, so I gave the guy the phone to change its charging point while I returned to pick it up. We concluded on a particular amount, and it was a deal. Within a few minutes, I returned to pick up the phone, and the young guy desperately requested the money. Like, seriously, wouldn't I check what you repaired? I asked. He said I shouldn't waste his time because he is rushing someone and that I should just pay him and let him go. His desperation already gave me a red signal that he didn't work on my phone but only wanted money. I didn't go with my phone charger, but I insisted on not giving him a dime until I was able to borrow a charger from somewhere and check the work. Lo and behold, it wasn't working! I challenged him, and he kept denying that he changed my charging point. If I had given him the money considering the gravity of the pressure he gave me, he would have just disappeared at once, and I would have paid double to another person to fix the phone. Well, I got him to really do the needful while I supervised the work and ensured it was working perfectly before I paid him. They usually dupe people whom they think they can dupe several times over, but my experience saved the day for me in this case.
In conclusion, not everything is being taught in the classroom or is being read from a book. Being both book smart and street smart is a good combo for us to achieve success in life.
This post is in response to the #hivelearners community contest on the topic titled book smart Vs street smart.
