My Way or the Highway

In memory of my father, Dovid ben Eliezer, whose 4th yahrzeit is tonight.

Did you ever notice how everyone is right?

Here's what happened the other day - did this ever happen to you?

We have been carpooling with a few families. Recently, one of the drivers, without telling us parents, told the boys, "Next week I'm going to be out of town, so you all will have to find your own ride home."

Now, anyone who carpools knows the rule - if you have a conflict, you call the other drivers and swap days. Not this person - he just decided to let the boys deal with his problem.

Hmm.

Then, a few days later, another driver in our pool didn't show up, and she didn't even pre-warn the boys. It wasn't the first time for her either.

Hmm.... I received a call from another parent who wanted me to phone the absentee driver because she thought if she phoned her she wouldn't be able to retain her composure. She was too upset.

I phoned, guess what I found out?

The woman's mother, in another country, had taken gravely ill and she had left in such dire haste she had completely forgotten about carpool.

Could happen to anyone, right? And it had nothing to do with the first driver's nonchalance.

One of the many things my father excelled at was seeing both sides to a story. Most people get into their own camp, politically, religiously, ethically - and have zero ability to see the other side of the story. My father was a great peace-maker because he had this gift of perspective.

Do you have an "other side of the story" story? Send it in or post it in the comments on the blog version of this email. Here is a Jewish website with a whole catalog of short “other side of the story” stories that you might enjoy printing and sharing. The site is based on this book by the same name.


Shabbat Shalom


PS – Here’s another Jew who had a lot of fans when he died young

(Didn’t know the King was an MOT? See http://www.elvispresleynews.com/JewishElvis.html)

The goal of Table Talk is to give you a conversation-starter for the Friday night dinner table. Please print and share.


(I previously blogged about other aspects of my father’s memorable personality here and here.)