Is it deadly or lovely?

It’s not everyday that I get to share anecdotes like this. So allow me to tell you a short story on how a pair of stiletto shoes taught me a lesson on perspective and interpretations.

My friend Kathy and I went window-shopping at the mall while waiting for dinner time with another friend. She spotted a purple stiletto shoe at one of the shoe shops and shrieked “That’s love!”

Kathy went inside the shop. I’m not a big fan of such shoes, but I went in, too. I looked around at the flats, the boots, and some sandals, while Kathy made her way through the rack where the five-inch stiletto shoe stood proud.

While we left the shop, Kathy mused again on how pretty the shoes looked. I gave her a reluctant nod, which she understood perfectly: “Look at you. You don’t agree, do you?” And then she laughed.

She knew well that I can’t walk on four-inch high heels. How can I even manage to stand on five-inch shoes?

We strolled some more and found ourselves in front of the same shoe shop again. “That’s love!” I heard Kathy said again.

“Kat, please,” I said finally. “Don’t call it love. You think it’s love. I think it’s deadly. Put them together and it’s like saying ‘love is deadly.’”

So now you see how two different people view the same thing differently.