Looking from different perspective - A story about the Fruit Seller

While having dinner tonight, my wife Jennifer informed me that she bought some fresh fruits from the Ayer Panas Wet Market. There is a particular fruit stall that she visits when she goes to the Ayer Panas Wet Market. Each time Jennifer goes there, she hopes the elderly lady who runs the stall would be there. When I asked Jennifer, why is that? She informed that the elderly lady is a simple person. She always give a little more than you pay for. For instance, she will round off the figure to the lowest or when she weighs the fruits, she will just add a little more into your basket without extra payment. The elderly lady is a friendly person and gets along well with her customers. On the other hand, Jennifer described the elderly lady’s son as someone who is rather “shrewd” and very “calculative”. He will weigh and charge you according to the scale, right down to the decimal point. Well, there is nothing wrong with that but it gives the impression that this man is very calculative. He will also charge his customers right to the very cent.

This story actually got me thinking. You see, to Jennifer the elderly lady’s son is “shrewd” and “calculative” which made this person undesirable when it comes to the customers. The man has no mercy when it comes to selling fruits. He will charge his customers the maximum and make as much money as he can. To be frank, there is nothing wrong with that as he is earning a living but as far as empathy and customer relations go, he has much to learn. However, to the man’s family and relatives, he is a very good businessman. He earns “extra” for his family and he knows how to maximise his profits. Like they say, there are “two sides to a coin”. Everyone has his or her angle or perspective in a subject matter. Some look at it positively while another may look at it at a negative angle. In order to overcome this, we need to have empathy. In other words, putting ourselves into the shoes of the other person. A very important trait to have in Mediation.

I will now have to excuse myself to have my overpriced fruits. Have a good evening!