The Man With No Ears

Today I had the misfortune of being ranted at by the kind of person that I hope I never become. Before I'd even said a word he'd made up his mind about everything we would discuss. I found this rather sad; he was an elderly man and I got to wondering just how you end up this way? Of course there's no mystery. He was just one of those that never learned to listen, that never quite managed to rise above his pre-conceived ideas. The loudest voice audible to him was the clanging drone of his own opinions, formed within the vacuum of his own unchallenged ideas. It really was grim stuff. I suppose if these type of people are of any utility it's as living warnings of what happens when a person cannot see beyond themselves.  We've got two ears and one mouth and I kind of think we should use them proportionately. Surely being open to new information is a strength and not a weakness? Surely there's no greater pleasure than learning something new, something true? We can probably all think of others similar to this old fool; loud, mouthy, brash and aloof. They grate on us, drying us out creatively. Well no thank you. I'm wired about the stuff that I don't know, and anybody who spends time around me knows that I love to hear alternate views. If we can take anything from men like the one I spoke with today, it would be that nobody ever grows if they're not prepared to engage with the world as it is, rather than how they've decided it to be.