A little while ago I posted several articles on an event "Reading In The Park" and wanted to take the time now to go over several lessons that can be taken away from this series.
#1: Sometimes Actions speak louder than Words, but sometimes you really need to Use Both.
sourceThere was a woman standing over me with a scowl on her face, hands on her hips, and foot just a tapping. Before I could say a word, she says to me, "You know, you really should burn that book!" I looked up at her, then down at my book, completely dumbfounded that anyone should even suggest burning a book much less the John Steinbeck I was reading. When I looked at her again I realized two things, 1) she had totally misread the look on my face, and 2) this was a teaching opportunity I could not pass up. What I really wanted to do was curse this woman and her stupidity, what I did, I think, was much better.
When I failed to immediately respond to the woman she mistook my silence for compliance. If I had decided to not engage with the woman, then I could have made a statement right then and cut the conversation from the very beginning. But, by not engaging immediately I was able to take stock of the situation and get the other person to engage with me.
I grabbed a spare blanket, invited her to sit with me, then putting my book away said, "If you think this book is bad you should check out this one." I pulled out another paperback book, this one covered in brown paper least I should offend anyone while reading it. She was intrigued and curious as I explained that this book contained all sorts of stuff far worse than anything Steinbeck ever wrote.
Perhaps by not jumping into the situation, and by combining actions with words, I was able to instill a seed of interest in the woman. Maybe next time she will take a moment to contemplate the book before condemning it.
Interested in reading the full article? Click HERE