A story about paying attention to what we hear.
My wife and I heard about this beautiful nature preservation beach. We decided to visit that place. We looked forward to smelling the fresh air of early morning, walking on the cold wet sand, splashing in the shallow water, and watching seagulls play. We arrived early in the morning, to be the first to go in. When we arrived, there was a line of five or six cars in front of the visitor’s gate. We lined up behind them.
But to our annoyance, our line was not moving. The gate was closed and there was no one at the entrance booth to let us in. We waited and wondered why no one was coming to open the gate. As we looked around, we saw another gate a bit further. That one was open, and cars were driving in.
In our static line, no one paid attention to the open gate. Still, it is not fun waiting in a static line when we see that the cars there were moving smoothly in. So, we decided to be smart and try the open gate. We left our lane and drove to the open gate. We pulled up to the booth and a petite old lady with soft white hair approached us.
“Sir, are you a fisherman?” She said politely.
“Ah, No, but is it possible to go in?”
“Sir, this lane is for fishermen only.”
“I see,” I said. “But is there break for seniors?”
She looked at me carefully, then she asked. “Do you have fishing equipment?”
“I’m afraid not…” I said.
She cut me off. “Do you have anything in the back seats that can be used for fishing?”
I followed her gaze to the back seat. We had lots of stuff there, but none was for fishing.
“I’m sorry, no…” I said.
“What about your trunk. Do you have a rod or a net that can be used for fishing?”
This line of questions started to be annoying. Our trunk was packed but there was nothing for fishing.
So, I said. “No.”
“Well, sir,” she said. “I am sorry, but this line is for fishermen only, and they are allowed to go in early. Visitors must use the visitor gate and enter at the official opening hour.”
Her face was unwavering. So, I reluctantly turn around. Just before we left my wife leaned out and called up to her. “Thank you, ma’am.” I don’t know why, but…We joined the static line which had more cars by now and braced for the wait.
“You know,” I said to my wife. “This woman could have let us in. She could see that we were not fishermen. Yet, she insisted on asking silly questions then kicked us out. And you had to thank her for that.”
“You should have thanked her too,” said my wife. “This lady was willing to stretch the definition of the word fisherman to the limit just to let us in. She was hoping you would have something to qualify us as fishermen.”
I did not respond. I did not think of that angle. My wife was right. I was so focused on trying to get us in, I did not pay attention to the meaning of what she was saying.
One lesson for me was the importance of connecting and carefully listening to what is said. The other lesson was to always keep something in the trunk that can be used for fishing just in case I’ll meet that lady again.
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