A man lived in a fishing village.

He had a boat moored at the doc.

The boat came loose from it’s mooring one day and drifted out in the bay.

It became entangled in another fisherman’s nets. The fisherman observed that the boat had come untied and drifted in to his nets. He untangled them, tied the boat to his, and took it back to the doc for the owner.

Another day, a man in a boat was not paying attention to where he was as he was going out to lay his nets, he drifted in to another fisherman’s nets and became entangled. The other fisherman screamed and yelled at the man for fouling his nets!

The two scenarios were similar, but the outcomes were completely different, i.e., the way the people reacted. In the first scenario, the fisherman actually took the boat back for the other man. He did not react with anger. In the second, scenario, the fisherman with the fouled nets became enraged under very similar circumstances.

The moral of the story? “Be the boat” not the man in the boat… Try to interact with others in a manor, which evokes a desire for them to help you even if they are inconvenienced.

...and now Grasshoppa...if you can snatch thesa pebbles from my hand...

Just ribbin ya Robby, but you are right. People should take some time to assess their situation and pay more attention to what it is they are doing or about to say. Believe me, by not doing so, I've sure screwed up a lot of situations...LOL!

THREADJACK!!!!!!!!!

..about that "man in the boat" thing...I kinda like that...uh nevermind...

DAMN...did it again!

Interesting philosophy. Except the second example could have been easily avoided what not for the stupidy/inattentiveness of the driver.

Your car is in the parking lot of a supermarket. A strong wind blows and a loose shopping cart slams into your car denting it.

The next day you are at the same supermarket and someone isn't paying attention to where they are pushing their cart and they slam it into your car and dent it again.

Be the cart?

Yes! Be the cart, not the person pushing the cart.

I was the gum on a shoe once, had plenty of soul and stuck to everything.

Barry

You guys can be the boat. I wanna be the lil man in the canoe!

I don't want to be a boat is it okay to be an airplane hmmmm or maybe a helicopter ? JonR

Jon, yes, you can fly, but it's not good to be the pilot.

I always wanted to be the race car.

Dont be the boat. Be Pamela Andersons bike seat!

BMW - LMAO!!

I just want to play with the little man in the boat.

the situation with the boats is identical imho because the careless guy who drifted into the other fellows nets, is no more careless than the guy who didn't make sure his boat was tied up well enough to not break free. It comes down to a desire to be understanding of others tendencies to make mistakes and not being judgemental. easier said than done

I always took the WheelBarrel!!!

Hog

Danny, very interesting perspective. Brandon, even more interesting...

Except in the first example perhaps the rope was bad and it broke. Maybe some kids untied it. You don't know. Yet in the second example you know that it was 100% the individuals fault becasue they weren't paying attention when they should have been.

Like someone not paying attention while driving a car which causes an accident and takes a life. Be the car? I don't think so. People need to be held accountable for their actions. None of this tree hugger thinking for me thank you.

This is an interesting discussion.

On one hand, you need to discuss understanding and emotional response.
On the other hand, personal responsiblity is paramount.

Either way, stay the hell away from my fishing lines or I'll shoot you!

In a fishing discussion at the big herf out here the other day, one guy said he'd found that smoking a cigar while fishing is not only a pleasure, but is also quite handy when others crowd into his fishing space and cast into his boat ...

"I think you'd be surprised at just how quickly the hot cherry on a cigar will burn through even the strongest monofilament" he said ... LOL