Would you remove your driveway to fix a leaking roof?
Once I asked Martin Smith, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, whether there was a causal relationship between A&E from 4th grade and the stress of some of our students. In front of dozens of parents, Smith started his answer with “in social studies, we don’t really talk about causal relationships.”
For the sake of humor, here is a story I’d like to tell, which will describe what was happening:
The other day, I found the roof of my house was leaking. I got a handyman and asked him what he was going to do. He said, “Don’t worry, I’ll fix the problem by removing the first two yards of your driveway.” I was so surprised and asked him the reason to eliminate part of the driveway. “I did not say eliminate your whole driveway. I am sorry if there is some misunderstanding. I am going to greatly expand the rest of your driveway so that it can easily fit six vehicles and you will not leave any vehicle behind.”
I believed I had to be straight to be point. “Do you think there is a causal relationship between the driveway that may need to be redesigned and the leaking roof?” He answered me very seriously. “You know what, in our business, we don’t really talk about casual relationships. I absolutely understand your concern. Trust me, I have been doing maintenance and repairs for over 20 years. Your house is in good hands. I will come up with very detailed plan to evaluate the result of driveway redesign. Here is the bill and you need to pay upfront.”
Jian Lin
West Windsor
