Sunday, July 1, 2012

Everybody is a Teacher

Everybody is a teacher... whether we recognize it or not.

We teach our children, grandchildren, friends, colleagues, neighbors.  We may be good or bad at it, but we all teach.

We teach intentionally, when we are showing someone how to do something.  Louise and John taught Brenda and I a great card game, without really thinking about it.

Anna Ahman taught Brenda to cook some Swedish dishes, and taught us both about nuances of Swedish culture and language.  In fact, everyone we came in contact with in Sweden taught us something.

I remember the guy behind the counter in the Loppis taught me about the steel in knife blades, and how the color showed steel qualities.  The machine at the Coop taught us that if you press the green button, you donated your bottle deposit refund to some charity, whether you knew that or not.

Some of these lessons are valuable, some are not.  But it is crucial to realize that people are watching us, and learning from us, for good or for ill.

The key question, of course, is what lessons are people learning from you and me?


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