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Einstein and His Blind Journey

This article was contributed by : Dennis Wheeler, in “The Focus” 4/1/08 ( edited by gay rogers)

I read a funny story about Albert Einstein, the great physicist. Once he was traveling from Princeton on a train, when the conductor came strolling down the aisle punching the tickets of each passenger. When he came to Dr. Einstein…Einstein reached into his vest pocket. He couldn’t find his ticket! So He searched another pocket…still no ticket! He looked in his briefcase but just could not locate his ticket. As a last resort he looked in the seat beside him…still no ticket! The conductor said, “Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are are. I’m sure you bought a ticket. Don’t worry about it.” Einstein nodded with appreciation.

The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next train car, he turned around and saw the great physicist on his hands & knees looking under his seat for the ticket. The conductor rushed back, “Dr. Einstein, you must not worry…I know who you are. No problem. You don’t need a ticket. I’m sure you bought one.”

Einstein then replied, “Young man, I too know who I am. What I don’t know is … where I’m going!!”

There are many references to draw from in this story. The strongest one that spoke to me was: when the rest of the world may think we have it “all together”, underneath it all… we don’t know “what in the world” we are talking about.

Is it Ok to admit when we aren’t sure about something to others?… yes, most of the time it is the preferred practice. However, it seems transparency or authenticity is difficult for so many because of the “masks” we wear in business and in our personal lives.

However, let’s also be willing to admit that being so transparent in every situation might not be what is best for the particular situation either.

The point being, the “clear cut” assumptions we make are not always right and it is important for us to see the other perspective with new eyes… and have the willingness to remove our masks clouding our vision.