Stop, Look and Listen

​By Graham "GSM" Matthews

​Aside from being the chorus to “Rubberneckin'” by Elvis Presley (a classic song by the way), these were three words that were brought to my attention while at work yesterday. I was standing around with a coworker of mine and one of my managers, who just so happens to be a wrestling fan.

We were shooting the wrestling breeze and somehow arrived on the topic of The Killer Bees tag team. Some guy, who apparently is a regular at our movie theater (though I wouldn't know because I only work weekends), approached us and asked us what we were talking about, and when he realized we were on the topic of wrestling, he mentioned he was at the very first WrestleMania back in 1985!

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​From there, my coworkers dispersed as this guy started giving me life advice about whatever. Most of it was baloney, but I listened anyway because he was there by himself, I felt bad and didn't want to be rude. He then asked me a question.

​“I was sitting down with a few of my friends. I poured a glass of water, overflowed it and then poured half of it out. Was it half-full or half-empty? Give me a factual response.” I told him, “Neither, because it's a matter of perception.” He responded, “Wrong. I said I poured half of it out, making it half-empty. That's a fact.”

Did he have a point? Perhaps. But the moral of the story is to stop, look and listen to your surroundings. Don't always be in a rush. Take a moment to embrace what is going on around you. Pick up on every detail someone says or you just might miss something of importance.