Oldest’s teacher runs a fantastic series. They are her fascinating facts and Oldest loves them. She has come home with many a fascinating fact. It is a brilliant idea as it inspires the children to want to learn more about the fact. However, the other week Oldest came home with the following fascinating “fact” -
“Not many people would have wanted to get in a lift with Steve Jobs as he wasn’t a nice man.”
The nit-picker in me immediately informed Oldest that she hadn’t shared a fact.
“Yes it is”, she insisted.
I then went on to explain that she must have become muddled because she hadn’t shared a fact, she had shared an opinion. This got me thinking about when opinion becomes fact and the danger of that, especially when you start passing down opinion as fact to children. Then I started pondering about Steve Jobs and all that he had achieved. Yet, my oldest daughter only knew that apparently not many people would have wanted to get into a lift with him.
I explained to Oldest that in fact I would have liked to have shared a lift with Steve Jobs. I explained that yes, some people, probably his early Apple employees, would not have wanted to get in a lift with him. I explained that this was because he was a man who was known for being harsh at times, he didn’t suffer fools. Some people claimed that he was bash and arrogant. However, I explained, there was also a lot of good about Steve Jobs. I then showed her films of him speaking and Oldest herself was able to see how skilfully he worked an audience, how he was able to keep everyone captivated. She could then see why a lot of people would have happily spent some time in a lift with him. She understood for herself why a lot of his employees followed him when he left to set-up NeXT (a start-up focussed on producing high-powered computers for the education industry). Jobs was known for inspiring people to produce great work.
Steve Jobs wasn’t a caricature, he wasn’t a saint either. He was a human being. Human beings are flawed and that is what makes us human. However, it troubles me that we often forget this about Steve Jobs. That the “stories” of Jobs are being passed on as fact.
To me, Steve Jobs is a man who was inspiring, a man who had the courage to chase his dreams. Steve Jobs was a man who I would have wanted to share a lift with, a man I would be privileged to share a lift with.
The memory of Steve Jobs and how some people view him has got me thinking. What will be my footprint that I leave on the world? I have spoken in the past about my blogging footprint and the fears I have about The Daily Mail trawling my blog for quotes taken out of context. However, I am nobody special. I haven’t achieved anything extraordinary so goodness knows what I will be remembered for. All I know is that I would hate to be remembered as someone people didn’t want to get in a lift with. Let’s be honest there will be people who think that about me. Not because I am brash or arrogant but because I am socially awkward. I either become tongue-tied or I talk at people. I’m not sure what is preferable, the painful silence or the need to fill the silence with meaningless words.
I used to care a great deal about what people thought about me. Especially when I first moved to Jersey but then I figured that some people just won’t like you and you won’t like them and that’s fine. Or is it? What if it these people, the people who don’t know you are the ones who share their memories of you when you are gone. What if these anecdotes then become facts about your personality? What will be my legacy? This blog? This blog which reflects my life and thoughts. This blog which could be open to misinterpretation and misunderstanding. That worries me too. Would I still want this blog online? In some ways it is so personal that it is like leaving a box of personal letters and inviting the world to rifle through them.
If the internet and digital community can tell us that Steve Jobs was a man that we didn’t want to get in a lift with then what will it say about the rest of us. In some ways it is great that we have this digital community, that we connect with others in grief. In other ways is the digital community responsible for us seeing people as very one-dimensional? Forgetting the “real” person.
I’m not a billionaire and I haven’t changed the world. Many people argue that our legacy is our children. I disagree, a legacy is something that we want to leave for our children. Our legacy can impact on our children. All I do know is that how we act now can become our legacy and I hope that I not remembered for being someone that no one wanted to get in a lift with.
“Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you.”
― Shannon L. Alder
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This is actually very sad. What a contemplative post. I’d like to think I won’t care what the haters say but I know deep down I would. It’s not a pleasant thought thinking that anything unkind would be said once you’d passed away but something so trivial after all that he had achieved seems so unfair. What will I leave for my children? That’s certainly going to fuel thoughts today for sure x
Yes, it just got me thinking really. I hope that I would be remembered for being a kind person. That’s what I want to leave for my children - kindness x
I would happily be stuck in a lift with you Em. And I’m bigger than you so if it came to it, I could probably overpower and eat you if it came down to it. In all seriousness though, my view is dead is dead and who cares? I don’t even want a funeral. I hate them - but perhaps I’m just despicably selfish…xx
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haha, slightly scared that you would possibly eat me if we stuck in a lift! You are right, why should I care….?
That’s a powerful quote and a powerful post. Big thoughts for today, my friend! I’d get in a lift with you….And hit the emergency stop because we haven’t had more than 5 minutes to talk since forever! Be afraid!
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Eeeeeeks. I am afraid!
Fab post very thought provoking and insightful I agree our legacy is what we leave our children hopefully for me it will be a bit of wisdom and to be nice human beings. Because the world needs that.
I agree, we really need nice human beings, more now than ever.
What a thought-provoking post. I certainly haven’t achieved anything earth-shattering, and maybe I never will. But I try to be a good person- the kind of person you’d like to be stuck in a lift with (even though like you, I’m very socially awkward). Maybe that’s enough. #FamilyFun
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I think being a good person is the perfect legacy x
There is a lot to think about here. I think all we can do is live our lives in the best way that we can. All I really care about is how my children see and remember me.
#familyfun
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Yes, I agree, that’s what is most important to me t00
What an odd thing for the teacher to say though - and to pass it off as fact. Maybe she was having a bad day. Anyway, in death, as in life, you can’t control what people think about you . Or say in some instances.
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I am assuming that Oldest must have got mixed up because all of the others have been fascinating facts that are actual facts. But that misunderstanding got me thinking about what if we were misunderstood in death. But then like you say we can’t control what people think of us and perhaps Steve Jobs is just a brilliant example of that. All he achieved and some people will still just know him as a man you didn’t want to get in a lift with.
Such an interesting, thought-provoking post. I never thought about whether Steve Jobs was someone that people would want to be in a lift with - I’ve always had the impression that he was someone to be inspired by. I would happily get in a lift and chat with you though - if your blog is the impression you leave behind, I don’t think it’s a bad one. You always come across so well on your blog. Hopefully we’ll all be remembered in a positive way after we’re gone though. And for the record, I’d happily get in a lift with you! 🙂
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Awww, thanks!
Wow this really got me thinking!! It’s quite a depressing thought to think about what others might say about me once I have died, I try not to think about it too much! One thing I do hate is when someone dies who really wasn’t that nice of a person and all of a sudden EVERYONE loved them and can’t stop singing their praises! I think sometimes it’s okay to admit that someone wasn’t a nice person, even once they have died, but it’s about being considerate to a persons family and the people they left behind. As for Steve Jobs, I really know very little about him other than I would love to get in a lift with him and hear about how he made his billions! #coolmumclub
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I really want to learn about his billions!
I have spent a load of time over the years worrying about what people think of me. I know I’m not everyone’s cup of tea - just as not everyone is mine, and I think I’m kind of okay with that now. Don’t get me wrong, I’d be devastated to hear actual direct nastiness about me, but I’m happy to skip that lift, and take the stairs with someone who’d be happy to walk with me. If you know what I mean.
Thanks for linking up to #coolmumclub Em.
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Aww, I like your thinking. Yep, we should take the stairs, better for us!
A really thought provoking post. People are quick to form opinions on the perception they have of someone, rather than the true person. That’s what your daughter’s teacher did with Jobs. There is always a risk that anyone in life could view us this way BUT in reality the people who matter would leap into a lift with you.
I love your posts so if I ever bump into you near a lift then would happily take a ride to have a chat about life 🙂
I’d have also loved to have had a lift chat with Steve Jobs too. I think he would have had a lot of wisdom to share!
#CoolMumClub
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I think he would have so much wisdom!
I think it’s human nature to worry about what other people think about us. We aim to please and all that and if we find out this isn’t the case it’s a bit heartbreaking. Blogging is us putting our heart and souls out there and thinking about it when I die if my blog is still there it will be pulled down 6 months later when my hosting runs out! Now that thought is heartbreaking! I would get into a lift with you! Thanks for linking up to #famiyfun
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Oh I defineitly don’t want to be remembered as someone people wouldn’t want to get in a lift with, but that being said you make a great point in that there will always be people who just don’t like you no matter what you do. A hard pill to swallow for a people pleaser ha. I think a lot about what I may or may not be able to leave my children and I often use it as my reason for doing so many things - it is for my children, or at least it will be. There is so much food for thought in this post , it’s really got me thinking that you for sharing it at #familyfun
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