Here’s a story that’s made the rounds in several management books and seminars. It is used as an example of how people interpret, or in this example misinterpret, things even though they all have the same information:
A young Technician and his General Manager board a train headed through the mountains on its way to Wichita. They can find no place to sit except for two seats right across the aisle from a young woman and her grandmother. After a while, it is obvious that the young woman and the young tech are interested in each other because they are giving each other “looks.” Soon the train passes into a tunnel and it is pitch black. There is a sound of the smack of a kiss followed by the sound of the smack of a slap. When the train emerges from the tunnel, the four sit there without saying a word. The grandmother is thinking to herself: “It was very brash for that young man to kiss my granddaughter, but I’m glad she slapped him.” The General manager is setting there thinking: “I didn’t know the young tech was brave enough to kiss the girl, but I sure wish she hadn’t missed him when she slapped and hit me!” The young woman was sitting and thinking: “I’m glad the guy kissed me, but I wish my grandmother had not slapped him!” The young tech sat there with a satisfied smile on his face and thought to himself: “Life is good. How often does a guy have the chance to kiss a beautiful girl and slap his General manager all at the same time!”
Hence, proof of the maxim “Where you stand on an issue, depends on where you sit.” In the above example, that was particularly and literally true. Might also say the same about this photo from Demotivationalpost.com:
