“The greatest tragedy for any human being,” Doug Baldwin said, “is going through their entire lives believing the only perspective that matters is their own.”
Unfortunately, changing your perspective is easier said than done. I found this out the hard way.
After dropping out of college in 2021, I began working in restaurants as a server. I remember thinking how much more money I would make without a degree. Let’s just say it didn’t take long for me to decide I wanted to get back in school. Since college is expensive, this meant it was time for me to start saving up – or try to.
A year of serving tables went by, and all of my hope in humanity was gone. It was almost always guaranteed that I would cry from rude customers or a rude boss. At that point, I didn’t want to conversate with my tables anymore. I only wanted to know their order so that I could run away after.
Years later when I finally began school at CBC, I was still working almost full-time as a waitress while in school since saving money didn’t go as planned. As one might assume, this made me hate my job. I began questioning things more and more. Why are people so unkind? Why is a grown man yelling at me? Why did I receive no tip when they seemed so nice, and I did everything right?
After a lot of thinking and reading, I decided I was going to make an effort to strike up conversation with all of my tables as best I could.
The results were shocking. People began to open up to me with personal stories. I never expected that at all.
From that moment on, I did not want to make assumptions based on someone’s actions. I tried my very best to change my perspective and be understanding no matter how I was treated. I learned that about 90% of the time, an individual’s actions had nothing to do with me. In a way, I found that not changing my perspective was only hurting myself.
I’ve shared this part of my story because I know how hard it can be to change our point of view. Through this column, I’ll share the stories of others in hopes of gaining perspective. I have discovered hearing other’s stories can make all the difference when it comes to opening up our minds.
