Blog 3520 – 06.24.2025
Blind Spot
I have on my pick-truck two side mirrors and a rear view mirror to aid me in seeing behind me and side to side while driving. In addition to those mirrors I also have on each of my side mirrors a small spot mirror that helps me see what the standard mirrors do not reveal, my blind spots.
I recall when my dad, who was a professional truck driver most of his life, was teaching me to drive that he warned me to stay out of other drivers’ blinds spots and to be mindful of my own before backing up, turning or changing lanes. These blind spots are where the driver loses sight things in his mirrors. As an example when you are helping someone back up it is important to stay where they can see you in their mirrors so they can see your hand signals. Also when walking near backhoes and dozers make sure that the operator can see you either directly or in his mirrors so that he knows where you are and does not hit you swinging a swinging around or run over you.
In life not just as in driving we have blind spots. Our beliefs, our opinions, and our prejudices all conspired to blind us to new ideas, different ways of dealing with things and can contribute to many misunderstandings. We can be so sure that we are right or that the coast is clear and yet still be so mistaken. How often have we started to change lanes and realized at the last moment that there is someone or something in our blind spot and narrowly avoided proving the axiom that no two things can occupy the same space at the same time.
I believe that blind spots are there to remind us not trust appearances or our assumptions regarding them, but to check and double check, to verify, verify. We need to check our mirrors and to turn our head, if necessary, to check our blind spot. Stop, look, and listen. Our life and that of others depend on it.
Even after over ten years of writing this daily blog and proofreading reading it over and over for mistakes I still miss many. Two lines from the song Mockingbird come to mind, “I’ll do all I can to be a better man. I’ll clean up this act, but be worse than when I when we started.”
I find that most of my writing mistakes happen when I stop and start up again or where I have attempted to rephrase or correct something. A wise long-time CBS journalist and author Eric Sevareid once said, “Most of our problems are caused by our solutions.” I have found that assessment to be spot on. When we make a mistake and fail to see it right away we have a tendency to see it how we thought we wrote it each time we read it again.
Being mindful of our blind spots and mistakes helps us to be humble and more patient with others. Also we should try to be kind pointing out the errors and mistakes of others as we hope they will be when pointing out ours. A good friend will let you know when you forget to zip your fly and kindly try to point out other errors to keep you from embarrassing yourself.
Your friend and fellow traveler,
David James White
Mockingbird
theencouragingword 