I was listening to the radio yesterday and caught a portion of a competition where the listener was given a first name and had to come up with the corresponding last name.
These were obviously famous people who were in the news recently, and while this might seem fairly easy its actually difficult to remember six last names in 30 seconds.
But this isn't about getting the names right as much as it is about confessing up to the fact that one might not know the names or what the person is famous for. The name clue was an innocuous “Lee” the correct answer was Lee Westwood, the UK man who ended the reign of golfing great Tiger Woods to take the number one slot last November. Currently he is number two.
Frankly I didn't know the correct answer.
But then this isn't about my not knowing, its about how the woman on the phone reacted. She did not know 'Lee Westwood,' and when the presenter tried to tell her he was a local rugby star – instead of pretending to know with a “oh, right”, she just shrugged it off and said that she didn't know.
She admitted on a public broadcast that she did not know rather than pretend that she did – something that I am sure a lot of people are guilty off doing to save face.
The punchline is that the presenter than admitted to her that he was kidding and that Lee Westwood was in fact a UK golfer. Imagine what kind of a fool she would have looked had she pretended to know and agreed that Lee Westwood was indeed a local rugby hero! Suddenly all the people listening in would know that she was a fool and she'd have lost face to save face.
I confess that I have fallen to pretend to know what I didn't... I am guilty of saying “Oh, right now I remember” when introduced to someone who I don't remember at all. A lot of us have done it in politeness... but when has it been polite to lie?
The woman on the radio won my respect because she was true to herself and wasn't worried about cheap face saves. One can hope to remember this lesson when put to the test.
But this isn't about getting the names right as much as it is about confessing up to the fact that one might not know the names or what the person is famous for. The name clue was an innocuous “Lee” the correct answer was Lee Westwood, the UK man who ended the reign of golfing great Tiger Woods to take the number one slot last November. Currently he is number two.
Frankly I didn't know the correct answer.
But then this isn't about my not knowing, its about how the woman on the phone reacted. She did not know 'Lee Westwood,' and when the presenter tried to tell her he was a local rugby star – instead of pretending to know with a “oh, right”, she just shrugged it off and said that she didn't know.
She admitted on a public broadcast that she did not know rather than pretend that she did – something that I am sure a lot of people are guilty off doing to save face.
The punchline is that the presenter than admitted to her that he was kidding and that Lee Westwood was in fact a UK golfer. Imagine what kind of a fool she would have looked had she pretended to know and agreed that Lee Westwood was indeed a local rugby hero! Suddenly all the people listening in would know that she was a fool and she'd have lost face to save face.
I confess that I have fallen to pretend to know what I didn't... I am guilty of saying “Oh, right now I remember” when introduced to someone who I don't remember at all. A lot of us have done it in politeness... but when has it been polite to lie?
The woman on the radio won my respect because she was true to herself and wasn't worried about cheap face saves. One can hope to remember this lesson when put to the test.
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