Perceptions

Quick – before you read any further – look at the picture above and describe it in no more than three words.

In August this year I’ll have been married, happily married, for nineteen years. However, despite living with the same lady for so long it appears that we still see things very differently.

We are (hopefully) moving house soon and are busy packing and making plans for our new home. I asked my wife what we were ” … going to do with the number thirteen?”

She looked at me, perhaps not blankly, more of a “what are you talking about, you fool?” type of look. (Over the years I’ve become accustomed to it.)

“Our number thirteen, what are we going to do with it?”

“What are you talking about?” she quizzed, completely perplexed at what I was asking.

“Our big red number thirteen” I replied.

“The red star? It’s a star. Who’d describe it as a number?”  her withering response as she finally realised what I was talking about.

To me, I’ve always thought of it as a number – perhaps that’s why I teach maths. My wife, a much more visual and creative person than I, has always thought of it as a star.

Same object, different perceptions.

How did you describe it – as a red star or the number thirteen?

It’s a good job opposites attract!