ValueSpeak
A Weekly Column
By Joseph Walker
RELATIVE REALITY
Sometime during the last month or so, a significant
event took place in our family: my youngest son, Jon, got taller than me.
OK, this isn’t “significant” like a birth or a
graduation or a wedding or some life-shaping experience like that. It’s not something we can control, or
something we have earned, or something that means anything beyond who stands
where in the next family photograph. But
for 31 years I’ve been the tallest member of our little family, and now –
suddenly – I’m not.
I don’t know what this means. I haven’t been the second tallest member of a
family since 8th grade, when I shot past my big brother Bud. I have two brothers-in-law and at least three
nephews who are taller than me, but in my little nuclear family I have been The
Tall One.
Until now.
I’ve gotta tell you, it’s a
little disconcerting to look at my son, who is just getting ready to start his
senior year of high school, and to think he is the exact same height (OK, a
LITTLE taller than I was) when I was a high school senior. Come to think of it, he’s the same weight and
waist size as I was, too. He’s tall and
thin and . . .
Wait – that’s it!
That’s the shocker! That’s the
thing that’s throwing me off here! He’s
the exact same height and weight as I was at his age, and I look at him and see
a tall
But I don't remember being thin. What I do remember
is looking into mirrors and seeing a chubby kid looking back at me. Never mind
Mom's insistence that I was wasting away. Forget statistical evidence indicating
that I was just a shade under 6-4, 167 pounds and had a 34-inch waist. And
please don't tell me it was all in my mind. It was all on my body. I was fat. I
could see it. Mirrors don't lie.
At least, I didn't think so. But I look at my tall,
Which can only mean one thing: Mom was right. And I
was – horrors! – wrong.
And if I can be so wrong about a label I put on
myself, maybe I'm not qualified to put labels on other people, either. Yet I do
it all the time. We all do. We cruise along through life with this view of the
world and the people in it that is, in our humble opinion, True and Right. And
then something comes along to foul it up, like the "unsavory"
political candidate who turns out to be a terrific public servant. Or the
"role model" sports hero who gets busted for spouse abuse. Or the
family from a "wacko" religious group that moves in and becomes the
best neighbors we've ever had.
It can be disconcerting to discover that reality is
sometimes relative, and that our personal perspectives are occasionally flawed.
But it can be risky to close our minds to new information that could expand our
view and increase our understanding of the people with whom we share this
planet. We can miss out on some wonderful opportunities for personal growth and
meaningful relationships if we cling to labels that have more to do with
impulse and ignorance than actual experience. Snap judgments might work for
home plate umpires, and permanent labels are good for cans of tuna. But neither
approach works with people. Not even ourselves.
Which reminds me: our 40-year high school reunion is
just a few years away, and I've got to lose some weight. The way I see it, no
one will recognize me unless I'm thin.
Again.
# # #
— © Joseph Walker
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