OP/ED: What did you learn today?

It's not uncommon for a parent to ask a child "And what did you learn (at school) today?" but have you ever thought of asking an adult, or yourself, the same question? I firmly believe that we never stop learning if we keep our eyes, ears and minds open.

And if we do stop learning, then in one way or another, we have also stopped living. This past Canada Day weekend has been a learning experience for me: I learned something about my husband of 36 years (married July 3, 1971...yes, today's our 36th wedding anniversary) and I also learned something about women in a washroom. Don't start laughing. This isn't all that funny. First, there was my husband. On Sunday morning, Canada Day, we went for a nice walk together in the morning. I was yapping away as usual when I suddenly noticed he wasn't beside me. I turned around to see him picking up an empty plastic water bottle at the side of the road. He was muttering to himself about people and litter. A few feet further down the road, he stopped and picked up a discarded Tim Hortons cup. Then he spotted another plastic bottle and picked it up. I asked him if he was going to clean the entire street as we strolled along. Of course he had no intention of doing that but it suddenly struck me what a nice thing it was that he was doing: cleaning up other people's litter which should never have been there in the first place. I couldn't help but wonder how many others would do that. He carried the litter for another 5 minutes until we found a trash can in the local shopping center. He was a caring member of our community and I felt proud of him. It struck me that I'd learned something about him that I didn't consciously realize and therefore, I'd learned something new, just like a kid in school. It felt good. Then yesterday, the kids and I took a well-needed break from our computers and went to the local annual festival called "It's your festival". It was the perfect day for stolling the grounds, looking at jewellery, artifacts, sampling international foods and listening to local bands. But suddenly it was potty time. My daughter and I headed for the women's washroom and while we were in there, we heard this loud cry, an "Ahhh.." that was repeated over and over coming from one of the cubicles. It sounded like someone becoming quite distressed. It also sounded like someone who couldn't help herself. Suddenly she yelled out in a garbled way "want toilet paper".Ah, there was no paper in her cubicle and she was trying to get someone to give her some. As I went to wash my hands, I saw her on the toilet, door open, holding what she had left of paper and yelling for help. I asked her "You need toilet paper?" "Yeah...." she yelled. She was obviously a bit slow and was having great difficulty expressing herself. I told her I'd get some and in a few minutes had put this poor woman out of her distress. Now here's what got me: the washroom was full of other women who were looking at her and doing nothing. They'd look, and walk out. Why wouldn't they help? Were they afraid of catching something? How hard is it to give someone some toilet paper. We didn't even touch hands for heaven's sake! I felt somewhat disgusted with them all, but suddenly felt good about myself, not unlike how I felt about my hubby picking up the litter the day before. And so for the second day in a row, I'd learned something new, but this time it was about myself. And it felt good. As my day came to an end, and today a new day begins I find myself wondering what I'll learn today. I learn everytime I come onto DJ. I learn everytime I open a newspaper or surf the net. It feels wonderful to still be a student in the school of life. So what will you say if someone, somewhere, suddenly comes up and asks you "What did you learn today ... or yesterday...or the day before?" Hands up!