Yesterday, I showed my fiancée a bratwurst stall that I used to go to as a child when we went shopping in a certain town. Fresh rolls, lightly charred sausages—still a classic! After the salesman handed over the goods, I looked around for ketchup and mustard. I conveniently found them beside the stall.
The dispenser was about one meter tall and, as it turned out, offered mustard, ketchup, and mayo to choose from. What was special about this one, however, was that you dosed the amount of sauce with your foot. Genius! Instead of wrestling with sausage rolls and napkins, and getting yourself dirty in the process, you just hold your hot dog up to the nozzle, tap a button on the floor, and voilà! The perfect line of mustard with zero hassle.
There was just one problem with this brilliant construction: People didn’t recognize it. Shortly after us, another couple stepped up and stood puzzled in front of the dispenser. “You have to use your foot,” I explained. “Ah, thanks,” the man said. Once they knew how it worked, they, too, thought it was a rather clever way to offer condiments.
As the couple stood eating, discussing the dispenser, more people walked up. They tried squeezing the nozzles at the top directly to little effect, until the guy who I had just helped paid it forward: “You have to use your foot.” “Ah, thanks,” came the response. He looked at me and laughed. “I guess that’s the circle of life,” I said.
After we all went our way, I kept wondering how many people misunderstood the dispenser each day. How many times someone says, “You have to use your foot.” And for how long this cycle will continue. Probably forever. And while this very much is the circle of life, I did realize something else: That circle is a circle of teaching. It’s not just life and death, death and life. The old caring for the young until it’s the youngs’ turn to care for the old. It’s also a matter of you teaching me, me teaching him, him teaching her, and then her teaching you.
Never stop learning—but don’t forget to teach, too. Even if all you’ll do is teach a stranger how to use the ketchup dispenser, you never know how far each lesson will go.