“Did you hear any news in town?” Bruce gets around a lot more than I do so this is a frequent conversation starter at our dinner table. Sometimes he hasn’t, or at least, nothing having to do with people I know. Just because it takes him a lot longer to accomplish one or two errands than me doesn’t mean much. He tends to converse with other retired railroaders, store clerks, and people who say hello in parking lots. That’s a good thing, although somewhat rare in a world where most folks are focused on their phones instead of their surroundings.
There are all kinds of ways to get news nowadays and not all are dependable sources.
Years ago, I had a neighbor who loved to gossip. He verified his stories with this. “I know it’s true, I heard it twice.” But I was raised by people whose mantra was, “Don’t believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.”
We all know that folks will say things on social media that they would never state in person. This is no less true of politicians and so-called experts. But whatever is said, by whomever, it’s important to look deeper. Maybe the statement is plainly biased because of the person’s beliefs. Maybe there’s an agenda to sway public opinion, or a vendetta with adversaries.
Bullying doesn’t happen just in school, so ask yourself if that’s what is going on.
A lot of what we have taken for true because it’s what we were taught in school has more to the story. Famous figures like Carniege and Einstein have darker sides that were omitted as we studied them. In other words, they were humans just like us.
Who, out there recalls Paul Harvey’s The Rest of the Story broadcasts? There’s always a rest of the story, which might fit into the caveat about only believing half of what you see. If you are focused on your phone, you probably missed the body language and weary expression of the person who, when asked, “How are you?” responded with, “Fine.”
I’ve been enjoying Mike Rowe’s book, The Way I Heard It. He follows Paul Harvey’s theme of delving deeper into stories. Everyone likes to pass on a good story, whether a joke or news of the neighborhood, but like the children’s gossip game, things get added or distorted. We often see that in news reports on TV. Conclusions about what really happened are reached without research, and often slanted by the opinions of the reporter. Maybe they should be required to qualify their comments with, “That’s The Way I Heard It,” like Mike Rowe did. Maybe we all should.
Meet me here next week and meanwhile do your best. Somebody might like it.