Advice

I was in Costco the other day and walked by a mother and daughter standing at one of the little food kiosks that are sprinkled about that store.  Everyone getting their snack fix on their walk about the store. 

I heard only a snippet of the conversation - was really hard for me not to hear - as I was coming around the corner.

The daughter was anywhere from 17-22, I can’t tell anymore.  The employee was advising the young lady on the subject of men it appeared. 

I might have slowed down a bit when I heard some of what she was saying. 

First thing I heard was “You don’t need a man young lady. You can do everything yourself.”  She continued to sound derogatory but I missed the rest of the next sentence.  It was pretty obvious to me that this woman did not like men. Was so difficult for me staying silent. 

I have no real issue with the employee stating her opinion.  It is her opinion from her experience and her right to communicate.  It is pretty obvious that her opinions are not those of the store so I’m not worried about that argument at all.

My hope is that the young girl will look elsewhere for advice or in some way keep her own counsel on this. 

Again, if you are going to take advice from someone, where do you go for it? 

If I’m looking to get my car repaired, do I go to someone that is good at repairing cars.  Do they actually like the work of car repair? Is that evident in the fact that they are good at their job?  If you were going to learn how to swim, would you learn from someone whose students end up drowning consistently? 

I think not. 

If I had seen this young lady and her mother in the store again, I might have stopped them and suggest that if she really wanted or needed some advice that she find someone, or better still a number of people, that had a fairly successful relationship for a period of time.

If she asked a bunch of people, and was wise about dissecting the answers, she might be lucky enough to glean some of the more successful aspects of a relationship. 

You want to learn photography, you learn from a number of successful photographers. Then take what you can from that to make it work for you.  That would go for any skill or profession, I would think.

And no less for relationships.