I was always taught to treat others the way I would like to be treated. But the fact of the matter is that this rule is flawed. What happens when someone doesn’t like to be treated the way you like being treated? For example, some people are extremely blunt and they like to receive that honesty in return. They want the naked truth, and are very offended when things are sugar-coated for them. However, there are other people who are very sensitive and for them it would be easier if the blow is softened a bit. These are the people who appreciate tact and generally go out of their way to not hurt people’s feelings. So instead of treating others the way we want to be treated, we need to treat others the way they would like to be treated.
However, there is still a problem with this modified rule. What happens when you can’t decide how a person wants to be treated? Some people react, behave and expect to be treated differently based the particular circumstance presented (which can change without a moment’s notice). I think most of us (to varying degrees) have this problem. There are times when we want to be left alone, times when we need to have a heart-to-heart, and times when a good old fashioned debate will solve the problem. How do we figure out how we should react in any given circumstance? Is counseling the solution? Or do we just fall back on trying to treat others the way we would like to be treated and just hope that the people we interact with think and behave exactly the same as we do in every circumstance presented?
However, there is still a problem with this modified rule. What happens when you can’t decide how a person wants to be treated? Some people react, behave and expect to be treated differently based the particular circumstance presented (which can change without a moment’s notice). I think most of us (to varying degrees) have this problem. There are times when we want to be left alone, times when we need to have a heart-to-heart, and times when a good old fashioned debate will solve the problem. How do we figure out how we should react in any given circumstance? Is counseling the solution? Or do we just fall back on trying to treat others the way we would like to be treated and just hope that the people we interact with think and behave exactly the same as we do in every circumstance presented?
