An old man meets a young man who asks, “Do you remember me?”. And the old man says “NO.”
Then the young man tells him that he was his student. And the teacher asks,
“What are you doing, what do you do for a living?”
The young man answers,
“Well, I became Professor.”
“Ah, how good, how do I?” (said the old man)
“You are right. In fact, I became a Professor because you inspired me to be like you.”
The old man, curious, asks the young man what moment it was that inspired him to be a Professor. And the young man tells him the following story,
“One day, a friend of mine, also a student, arrived with a beautiful, new watch, and I decided he wanted it for me and I stole it, I took it out of his pocket.”
Shortly after, my friend noticed the theft and immediately complained to our Professor, who was you. Then, you went to the class,
“Your partner’s watch has been stolen during class today. Whoever stole it, please return it.”
I didn’t return it because I didn’t want to do it.
Then you closed the door and told us all to stand up and go one by one to search our pockets until we find the clock.
But, he told us to close our eyes, because he would only look for it if we all had our eyes closed.
So we did it, and you went from pocket to pocket, and when it came to mine you found the clock and took it.
You continued to look for everyone’s pockets, and when he finished, he said,
“Open your eyes. We already have the clock.”
You didn’t tell me anything, and you never mentioned the episode.
Nor did he ever say who was the one who had stolen the watch.
That day, you saved my dignity forever.
It was the most shameful day of my life.
But it was also the day that my dignity was saved from not becoming a thief, a bad person, etc. You never said anything to me, and even though you didn’t scold me or get my attention to give me a moral lesson, I received the message clearly.
And thanks to you I understood that this is what a true educator should do.
Do you remember that episode, Professor?
And the Professor replies,
“I remember the situation, the stolen watch, which I looked for in everyone, but I didn’t remember you, because I also closed my eyes while searching.”
Moral: If to correct you need to humiliate; you don’t know how to teach