A Grandmother's Lesson

There once was a smart boy who lived with his grandmother in a small, quiet house at the edge of town. At home, he spent his time reading as much as he could. At school, he was always the first to put his hand up when his teacher asked a question.

When he saw others give the wrong answer, he jumped at the opportunity to correct them. He loved to boast about what he knew. However, despite his vast wealth of knowledge, none of the kids at school wanted to talk to him.

One day, the boy shared what he learned at the dinner table. His grandma carefully listened as usual, thanking him for what he shared after he finished. After a short moment of silence that followed, the boy noticed his grandma never shared anything she knew.

The boy always assumed his grandma didn't know much because she never had much to say. However, curiosity overcame the boy. He asked his grandma, “Why don’t you ever tell me what you know?” She smiled and replied, “Because you never ask. If you'd like to know, come spend the day with me tomorrow and I'll show you.”

The next day, when the boy woke up, he realized his grandma was already up and had breakfast ready for him to eat. After he ate, he followed her into town. As she went on about her routine, he watched how people greeted her with warmth, how she helped people at the community center in small ways, and how people listened when she spoke.

The boy was confused. The boy felt he had more interesting things to say than his grandma, but people never wanted to listen to him. He asked his grandma, "Grandma, you're not saying anything they haven't heard before. Why are people so eager to listen to you when you speak?"

The grandma turned to the boy and asked, "If I spoke to you, would you be eager to listen?" The boy replied, "Of course." The grandma asked, "Why?" The boy thought for a while, then replied, "Because I care about you."

The grandma smiled and replied, "They do too. They care about me and what I have to say. I also care for them and what they have to say. We listen because we speak for each other's best interests, not just to make ourselves look good or sound smart."

She continued, "People don't care what you know until they know that you care. If you want to share your big ideas with the world, you have to learn to show the world you care first. When you share your ideas to make yourself look good, you may succeed in doing so, but you will make others feel worse about themselves in the process."

The boy took some time to process what she said. He knew now he wasn't going to make new friends by sharing what he knew all the time. He had to show the other kids he cared, not just that he was smart. He realized he spent so much time telling others what he knew, it may not have felt like a conversation to others.

Later that night, at the dinner table, the boy asked his grandma about her favourite part of the day. The grandma smiled and told him it was being able to spend it with him, and began to describe what a beautiful day it was. While he sat there and listened intently, the grandma knew he had learned as much that day as on any other day.