The Miracle on Hudson River: The Other side

Another thought that hit me as I watched the news coverage of the Hudson River incident for the USAir flight was "What about the birds?" The Canadian government did not call the US ambassador to denounce the tragic end of an unspecified number of Canadian geese. The poor fellows were minding their own business migrating along routes that has been genetically encoded into their being, until they were sucked into their painful, and sudden death. The reporters jubilantly stated that all was perfect; there were no victims in the Hudson River miracle. They have viewed the story only from one side, our side as humans. They failed to see the story from the perspective of the other side. If the migrating birds had a chance to give their side of the story, it would have sounded, no doubt, so much different. To them this was a disaster!!!

The thought above started as light hearted sarcasm, yet it led to a more serious follow-up thought. The reporters’ reaction is not surprising. The birds did not matter. Their plight was nothing more than a passing flash to some. Others blamed the whole incident squarely on them for being, for by just being they interfered with the grand scheme of our human plans and activities. They were a mere collateral damage.

The way we viewed the situation is just part of our human nature. We, as humans, are clever in finding boundaries that define us and hence separate us from “the others”. After we tamed the planet and it became all ours, we continued to draw these boundaries with a collection of inks manufactured of religious convictions and denominations, languages and accents, skin colors and tones, even economic and political parties. When we get involved in an argument, an incident or a conflict, we rarely try to see the view of and from the other side. We do not care how our actions affect “the others.” The results are measured by the success or failure of our side to advance our agenda. We never consider the “other side” and how they view the outcome. We rarely look for a Win-Win resolution instead of the apparent Win-Lose ones that we usually seek and in doing so we create the dominant Lose-Lose non-resolution.

Think how many conflicts around the world you have viewed from one side disregarding the misery of those you perceived as "the others" and how much such a conflict would benefit if all sides considered the “other side”!!!