"On Seeing People"

This is a poem I liked from my professor, thought I would pass it on....

"On Seeing People" by Arthur Lyons and Jason Hardy

I can do things you cannot.
That sounds like a boast. Maybe it is.
But you can do things I cannot.
That's true whoever "you" are. Each "you" in a community has a set of talents and abilites that make them unique.
Maybe I can cook, while you have trouble making Jell-O without ruining it.
Maybe you can make a dress from scratch, while I have trouble sewing on a button.
Maybe I have a head for numbers, while you have a gift for poetry.
Maybe I am introverted, you are extroverted. Or vice versa.

I can see advantages to knowing you. If I cook you a meal, you can help me with a tear in my shirt. If I use my ability with numbers to help you balance a checkbook, you can use your ability with words to help me put the rest of the world in balance.

We benefit eachother. My deficiencies are less of a problem for me, since I see you as a comrade who can complement me.

I see me as a comrade to complement you.

But what if I reversed the openeing statements?

I cannot do things you can, but you cannot do things I can.

Do we keep seeing ways to help eachother? Or does this focus encourage us to envy others for what they can do, and belittle them for what they cannot?

In the end, we see who we look for, and we profit more by what we can do, not what we cannot.