Concrete Thinkers
We are living in a culture here that does little abstract thinking. Things are what they appear, and there is not much time spent thinking about "what if's", "maybes", or "could it be that..."
We learned this lesson last week in a most humorous way. We were having a new shelf built by a local guy that came highly recommended to us. James decided to take a photo with his phone so that the new shelf would look exactly like the one we already have. It was nothing special, just a small bookcase with three shelves made of wood. When he came to pick up the shelf when it was done, what he found was not quite what he was expecting. it was a small bookcase with three shelves, just like he had said, but because James took a photo of our shelf from a downward angle, the photo made it look like the top shelf was wider than the bottom shelf. The man said, "I made it exactly like the picture you showed me." For those of us who have looked at pictures of things our whole lives, we know that this is just an optical illusion, and the shelves are really the same length. But for those of us who have not, it really does look like the shelves are three different lengths.
At that point, James didn't know what to say but "Thank you" and admire this man's talent, in making our new shelves perfectly angled, just like the picture. After getting over the original frustration that the two shelves won't go together, we have decided we really like the new look. The shelf will go perfectly in the kids room, and we can honestly say that there is not another one like it in the entire country.
Here is the original photo.
And here is the new shelf:
We learned this lesson last week in a most humorous way. We were having a new shelf built by a local guy that came highly recommended to us. James decided to take a photo with his phone so that the new shelf would look exactly like the one we already have. It was nothing special, just a small bookcase with three shelves made of wood. When he came to pick up the shelf when it was done, what he found was not quite what he was expecting. it was a small bookcase with three shelves, just like he had said, but because James took a photo of our shelf from a downward angle, the photo made it look like the top shelf was wider than the bottom shelf. The man said, "I made it exactly like the picture you showed me." For those of us who have looked at pictures of things our whole lives, we know that this is just an optical illusion, and the shelves are really the same length. But for those of us who have not, it really does look like the shelves are three different lengths.
At that point, James didn't know what to say but "Thank you" and admire this man's talent, in making our new shelves perfectly angled, just like the picture. After getting over the original frustration that the two shelves won't go together, we have decided we really like the new look. The shelf will go perfectly in the kids room, and we can honestly say that there is not another one like it in the entire country.
Here is the original photo.
And here is the new shelf:
Oh the joys of trying to explain what you want! May you be blessed with patience and communication skills!
ReplyDeleteThat. is. great.
ReplyDelete