We are all familiar with the biblical quote "You shall love your neighbour as yourself" and its variations "Treat others the way you want to be treated". As you see, they are pretty self-explanatory. Well! You would think so until you read the conversation I had with my daughter on the way to her swimming class on a Saturday morning.
Myself: Anjali! How was your week? Did you have fun with your friends yesterday?
Anjali: Lots of fun with Katharine and Antara.
Myself: Hmm! What happened with Allison? I thought you both are best friends.
Anjali: I told Allison I'm not her friend anymore.
Myself: That is not a good thing to say Anjali.
(Prelude: Anjali and Allison have been very good friends. I'm sure they will be friends again the coming week. We always have one day in the week where they are not friends anymore. Don't ask me why. Tough to understand the psychology of 6 year old girls. I try to dig deep into my childhood days for answers. I remember situations like this but cannot answer the 'Why?' part. Let us get back to the conversation.)
Anjali: Because Allison is not my friend anymore.
Myself: Will you be happy if Allison says that to you.
Anjali: No!
Myself: Then why would you want to do that to her?
Anjali: Because Ms. Grace said that we should treat others like the way we want to be treated.
(At that point, I was totally lost. I couldn't see the connection. I was happy that Anjali's teacher Ms. Grace is teaching them excellent stuff but I could not understand Anjali quoting that teaching as a reason for her behavior.)
Myself: What do you think that means?
Anjali: Because Allison told me last week that she doesn't want to be my friend anymore. Since she is treating me like that, I think that is how she wants to be treated too. Ms. Grace said so.
Myself: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Did you see the twisted logic here? I still had to explain Anjali that the saying is not 'Treat others the way they treat you' and it is about applying it to yourself first, etc. etc.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
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