Let me tell you the circumstances around my moments of smartness. The first was during a visit to my nephrologist. Steve has been my kidney doctor for well over a decade. We have spent a lot of time together, talked about a vast array of topics, shared some deep conversations and truly like and enjoy a good friendship. As usual, on my last visit, I inquired about his summer and how life was in his household. He told me of building screened in porch and enjoying many hours reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. In the conversation he told me that in reading the book he discovered why Germany had started World War II and asked me if I knew. I said, “Sure. They were angry and felt disrespected by the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I.” He was a bit surprised that I knew the answer and asked, “Did you know there were attempts by members of the German military leaders to assassinate Hitler?” I replied, “Yes, and isn’t it weird that one of them would have succeeded if someone at a meeting had not move the satchel containing the bomb to the wrong side of a thick table leg that deflected the blast and spared Hitler’s life?” His mouth dropped open and he turned to his medical assistant and said, “This guy is really smart.” I just smiled. I knew the truth. The smart guy was really just a guy who is out of work and spends hours watching the History Channel. I have learned more history watching the History Channel for the past six months than I did earning a history minor in college.
A few days ago I experienced my second moment of smartness. I was doing some marriage counseling with a young couple recently married. They are going that surprising stage of marriage where you find you have to adjust to living with someone you thought you knew. Living with someone is different than dating them. I think that the biggest difference is that when you are mad at your significant other or just plain tired of hanging around them, you can’t go home. Well, you can go home but they are there. So, I am counseling this wonderful young couple on how to understand that they think differently and he looks me in the eye and says, “You are so smart. How did you get so smart?” I laughed. How did I get so smart? Let’s see… by screwing up just about every relationship I have ever had… by spending many hours sitting quietly in the corner and watching people… by working hard to understand who I am and why I do what I do… by finally grasping the reality that all people are imperfect and screw up and disappoint each other but that most of us are doing the best we can with who we are and what we know.
Smart? Not so much. More like my father would say. “A blind pig finds an acorn every once in a while.”
Copyright © 2011, William T. McConnell, All Rights Reserved
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