ITALY
After our golf outing in Portugal, we set off for a few days in Florence, Italy. Although I had been in Italy years ago, first as a boy scout and later as a student, this was my first time in Italy as an adult and my first time in Florence. Because of layovers and the odd route we were obliged to take, it took all day to get from Portugal to Florence. I was pleasantly surprised by many things on the trip, but the layovers were uncomfortable. As I expected, once in Italy, we had wonderful weather, wonderful food and lodging and, once again, met wonderful people.* Since Florence was new to all of us, we took a horse cart ride around the city. The city is surprisingly small in its center so we quickly oriented ourselves for future walking tours.
The cart driver spoke little English and we spoke no Italian so I was at first apprehensive. But I needn't have been. A few words from him supplemented by a few brief questions from us led to a surprising amount of education. Artists, politicians, places we knew slightly came to life for us. The Medici were present in a sense and, notwithstanding their many flaws, left an amazing legacy to Florence. Almost everywhere we went, we had views of important monuments, including a great outdoor sculpture garden where we spent many happy hours.
The cart driver reminded me of some important things about communication. We learn by communication in different forms, verbal and physical. But we often fail to communicate, because our reticence or shyness deters us, because we assume our efforts to communicate will fail, because we don't listen. Because we listened to the driver and he listened to us, because we were so anxious to learn, because we tried so hard, we were able to communicate across language barriers, across cultural and age differences. But, perhaps most importantly, we all approached the issue with good will. Good will facilitates communication. With a smile and a desire to learn, we can communicate with most people. It might be imperfect but we will have communication. Moreover, everyone we meet has something to teach us. Even if we fail to communicate perfectly, we will learn something.
In our normal lives, we must approach others with a sincere desire to communicate. We will learn something and we will teach something. And, like so many other situations requiring sincerity and good will, it's free.
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* Our trip was marred by the illness of a friend who had to leave Florence for America just as we were arriving. Our best wishes for a successful recovery go out to him.
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10-13-03
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