Why Some People Stare
IllustrationStory★★★★Dan Rather recalls an eventful elevator ride in a large Florida hotel: “After having flown in late during the night, I am now up early to go downstairs and make a speech before several thousand people. I am not in a good mood. In the elevator I feel all eyes on me. Didn’t any of these people’s mothers teach them that it’s rude to stare?
I am thinking. Soon the elevator reaches the lobby. As it empties, a woman gently takes hold of my sleeve. ‘Mr.
Rather,’ she says quietly, ‘I don’t mean to intrude.’ Then why are you?
I say to myself. She looks around, making sure no one else is listening. ‘I don’t want this to be embarrassing. But your fly is unzipped and a piece of your shirt-tail is sticking out through it,’ she says.
Then she smiles and strides away.”
The point
Dan Rather's story of a woman kindly pointing out his exposed shirttail shows courtesy and grace in addressing another's embarrassment.