Black or White
When I was in elementary
school, I got into a major argument with a boy in my class. I have forgotten
what the argument was about, but I have never forgotten the lesson I learned
that day.
I was convinced that “I” was
right and “he” was wrong – and he was just as convinced that “I” was wrong and
“he” was right. The teacher decided to teach us a very important lesson.
She brought us up to the front
of the class and placed him on one side of her desk and me on the other. In the
middle of her desk was a large, round object. I could clearly see that it was
black. She asked the boy what colour the object was. “White,” he answered.
I
couldn’t believe that he said the object was white, when it was obviously black!
Another argument started between my classmate and me, this time about the colour
of the object.
The
teacher told me to go and stand where the boy was standing and told him to come and stand where I had been. We changed places, and now she asked me what the colour
of the object was. I had to answer, “White.”
It
was an object with two differently coloured sides, and from his viewpoint it
was white. Only from my side it was black.
Sometimes
we need to look at the problem from the other person’s view in order to truly
understand his/her perspective.
