Boys Misbehaving On The Subway

To see life through a different paradigm; to see through the Vaseline on the lens of life, through the social and moral veils that layer our perceptions of life - paradigms can be hard to understand, but Stephen Covey gave a great example in his book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People".

One day on the subway, while quietly reading a book, Stephen was interrupted by two wild children that got on with their father at a subway stop.

The children were out of control, jumping up and down, running loudly through the subway car.

The father seemed not to notice or care that his children were misbehaving and disturbing commuters...

Stephen approached the father and wanted to scold him for not controlling his children and teaching them respect for others...

The father agreed, and sighed sullenly, saying "yeah, I just don't know what to do or say to them. We just came from the hospital where their mother died from a random assault...."

Hearing this story immediately changed Stephen's paradigm of the children and the situation. He went on to explore this and counsel the man who had lost his wife.

The above is an extract from Stephen Coveys world famous book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, which has sold over 15 million copies worldwide".