Which Window?

Just suppose...

There once was a man who lived in an apartment house by the side of a factory. Every day when he woke up, all he could see was the factory. He began his day thinking about the factory workers and how difficult their jobs must be. He also thought about the owner of the company and wondered why he didn't do something to improve the conditions in the factory. Then he would get angry at all factory owners in general and start muttering something about government and salaries, taxes and strikes. He would listen to the news on his way to work, getting more and more angry at 'someone' until the traffic got bad and he would turn his anger at the drivers on the road. When he got to work, he would be in such a foul mood that no one wanted to talk to him. He would sit in his office and wonder why people seemed to be afraid of him. Finally, the unhappy man died of a bleeding ulcer.

There was another man who lived on the other side of the apartment building whose window looked out onto a small city park. Each morning when he woke up he would look out and see people briskly walking through the park, some for exercise, some for pleasure. Sometimes he could see children playing, and always he could see the ever-changing, ever-beautiful trees. Every morning, he would begin his day thinking about those trees; wondering who must have planted them, how old they were and what kind of trees they were. It intrigued him to see so many different kinds of trees so he would sometimes walk home from work through the park to study the leaves and bark so that when he got home he could look up what kinds they were. People at work thought he was such an interesting person because he always had some new bit of information about nature to share. Sometimes they would ask him questions about their gardens or trees and he would always have a helpful answer or would find one for them. That man lived a long, happy life with many friends, and made significant contributions to his surroundings with his excellent insights.

There was yet another man in the apartment building. He had neither the view of the factory nor of the park, but his view was only a solid brick wall. He would look out his window in the morning and remind himself that he always seemed to be up against a wall in his life. Either he couldn't get a job, or the job he had was a tedious factory job that he couldn't endure for more than a few weeks. He was always hearing those words, “I'm sorry, but we'll have to let you go. Your quotas are consistently low and we just can't afford to keep you on.” Trying to pay bills, trying to keep his apartment, trying just to survive seemed too difficult and sometimes pointless. One day as he was coming back from a fruitless job search, the man looked at the side of the apartment building and noticed that the fire escape led up to the roof of the building. He had thought all day that if he had a suitable place from which to jump, that he would, and just try to end it all. He went up to his apartment and wrote a note, to no one in particular because he thought he had no friends, then he walked out into the hall to get to where the fire escape was. As he closed the door, he heard footsteps on the stair, so he tried to act casual by just looking out the window. The footsteps came closer until they stopped...right next to him.

The footsteps belonged to the man in the apartment with the view of the park. He had also come to the window to use the fire escape. Seeing a stranger at the window, the man introduced himself and then excused himself saying that he was going up to the roof to get a birds-eye view of the trees in the surrounding area. The two men began to talk and soon found that they had much in common. The man with the view of the park discovered that the man with the view of the brick wall actually had a degree in horticulture and could tell him much about the trees he was studying. They made an appointment to meet and discuss some questions. Later, with the influence he had at his work, the man with the view of the park helped the man with the view of the wall to find a position in his field. He loved the job and the two became fast friends and shared many discussions about trees.
You and your neighbor live there too.