Effective Listening
Here is a true story, but first I need to provide some context. During the 1940s back in the Smokey Mountains, there was a very interesting exchange at the Jackson County Courthouse located in Sylva, North Carolina. In the days before television, the “reality TV” of the day was often played out in the courtroom. A lot of people would regularly attend the court's proceedings as a way of keeping up on the times as well as to add a little spice to life. Hardly nothing is sweeter than a good, juicy piece of gossip spilled out in a court case when people are under oath to tell the whole truth.
On this particular day, the judge was presiding over a divorce trial where the husband was suing his wife for divorce on the grounds of infidelity. The wife had conceived and given birth to a child when the husband was away in the army. Seemed like an open and shut case.
The wife calmly denied ever having an affair out of wedlock. When pressed by her husband's attorney regarding how she could have conceived a child, with her husband away and with her never having had relations with another man, the lady answered, “I had relations with a ghost.” The courtroom really started buzzing at this response.
Attorney to the lady: “Would you please repeat your answer?”
Lady: “I had relations with a ghost.”
At this point the attorney turned to the judge and said he was not sure how to proceed, he'd never heard of anyone having relations with a ghost and conceiving a child.
The judge took over and said to the lady, “Madam, I've never heard of anything like this; I'm going to open this up to the courtroom. Has anyone in this court ever had relations with a ghost?”
An older man toward the back of the courtroom raised his hand, and the judge asked him, “Sir, you've had relations with a ghost?”
Old man: “Yes I have.”
The judge asked the man to come forward to address the court. When the man approached the bench, the judge asked the man, “Would you please explain to the court your experience with having relations with a ghost?”
Old man: “Ghost??? I thought you said 'goat!'”
Can we learn something from this story? I'm not sure it matters – it is one of the funniest stories I've ever heard, and I love retelling it. My grandfather was in the courtroom when this happened, and no, he was not the old man. He was the Chief of Police for Sylva and was in the court on official business.
I think there is a good lesson to be learned here – we need to be good listeners. Obviously the old man did not accurately hear the question. Was he embarrassed? Apparently not. Why not? I have no idea. But had he heard what was really asked he may have saved a few guts. Several folks “busted a gut” laughing, my grandfather's friend slipped and nearly fell out of the balcony, and the judge had to adjourn court for a recess until he and everyone else could gain composure. In fact, I'm not sure how they ever came back and completed the case. I think it is safe to assume that the lady's case did not hold, and the husband got the divorce.
Posted at 11:01AM Apr 21, 2008 by George Miller in Personal | Comments[0]