In the Bible, the book of Proverbs tells us that we need to hear both sides to get a whole story. It's a truth that points out the need of as much information as one can gather before coming to a conclusion. That particular bit of wisdom has served me well, though I've ignored it a few times, always to my peril. It first came home to me one evening as a young man of about 20. It was taught to me by my mother, who used the unusual medium of dishwashing soap to illustrate the consequences of ignoring that ancient maxim.

It happened one evening as I was headed out for an night on the town with the guys. My family had just finished supper. Grandpa was our guest that evening. Most nights he dined with Grandma at the nursing home but this particular dinner found him at our house. The meal was over, and he and Dad sat at the dining room table and played a game of Cribbage while Mom cleaned up the dishes. She filled her sink with soap suds just as I was heading out the kitchen door. The phone rang as I passed. Mom asked me to get it as her hands were all soapsuds.

I picked up the receiver. Being a smart-aleck I answered the phone, "Kelly's Brickyard. Kelly speaking!" The caller was Mr. MacEndarffer, a friend of Dad's and Grandpa's, who most people just called Mac. My oddball greeting caught him off guard but I quickly assured him that he had indeed dialed the right number. Once the issue was cleared up he asked to speak to Dad. I stepped back into the kitchen. "Dad," I called, "it's Mac." Mom continued her washing-up. We learned later that she had heard "Kelly" and "Mac" and thought the caller was our new minister, the Rev. Mack Kelley.

Dad took the phone and continued on as I'd started. "Yeah, yeah, this is Kelly..." he said. Overhearing this reinforced Mom's belief that the minister was on the line. After some brief chat Mac asked to speak to Grandpa. As it happened, Grandpa had taken an interest in religion with the onset of Grandma's illness and was scheduled to join the church in a few weeks. Mom thought that Rev. Kelley must have wanted to speak to Grandpa about the details of the upcoming event.

Dad called his dad to the phone. Grandpa took the receiver. "What the hell do you want?" he barked. Mom's eyes popped wide open and her jaw dropped, horrified that Grandpa had just cussed at the new preacher! She also dropped her platter flat into the sink. Soap suds flew across the cupboards, danced briefly in mid-air, and then dropped to the floor. The resulting tsunami overflowed the sink, dousing Mom's blouse. Dad and I looked at each other, wondering what could be wrong with Mom!

The confusion eventually got sorted out. Mom went upstairs to change her blouse while Dad and I cleaned up the soapsuds. Grandpa left to go to Grandma.