Because not enough people know it, here is…
THE KOFI ANNAN EARMUFF PARABLE
(as retold by Paul, based on recollection)
Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the UN, went to college at Macalester. Class of ’61.
Annan is from Ghana, which of course has no winter.
Macalester is in St. Paul, Minnesota.
1/
Paraphrasing Annan:
“As it got colder, I saw people wearing earmuffs. I thought they were ridiculous. I swore I would never, ever wear such humiliating clothing.“
“Then one day, crossing campus, my ears got so cold they hurt. In pain! From the cold! Never in my life had I dreamed that such a thing was even •possible•.”
2/
“I thought to myself, ‘The natives are on to something!’ And I immediately went out and purchased the biggest, ugliest pair of earmuffs I could find.
“The moral of the story: never walk into a situation and assume you understand it better than the people who live there.”
3/
I had the privilege of hearing him tell this story in person twice. I still hear it in his gentle voice, always with the edge of a gentle laugh in the wings — and with the kind of power that comes from deep calmness. He was a wonderful speaker. And it’s a wonderful lesson, one I forget too easily and consciously try to re-remember.
/end
