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Today we’re looking at a short story
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titled: The Measurement, which is about
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an answer that reveals more than a
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question. Hm. Careful, the title isn't
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as silly as it looks. Why does someone
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give a detailed answer to a question
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that was never actually asked? That is
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what this is about. And this Anja here,
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who is she really talking at length for
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, and how can he warn without actually
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warning? We’ll show that now using
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the story. This short story has a lot
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to do with a possible reality. People
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had a nice evening together, including
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beer, and then driving home by car.
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Fortunately, the host comes up with
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something to save the day at the end,
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but the final decision remains open, as
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is fitting for a proper short story.
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And we’ve simply copied the elements
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from the page we reference below to
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introduce them here, so everyone can
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quickly decide if this is something for
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them. The exciting part is this right
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here. In the communication model by
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Friedemann Schulz von Thun, there is
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something called self-disclosure, and
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it is almost the most important part.
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That’s where you can make the biggest
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mistakes, run into problems, but also
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sometimes find a solution. And we
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notice here that Anja—the woman up
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there who has had a bit too much to
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drink and wants to go home—is
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primarily speaking to herself, and the
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host uses that wisely. And this note
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down here refers to the website. So now
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, we will explain the story section by
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section. We won't read it aloud;
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pointing it out here is enough. The
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evening had gone well. They talked
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about all sorts of things. Staff
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shortages are important here because
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she is a nurse and he has a stack of
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German exams that make it clear—aha,
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he is a German teacher—and between
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them sit the beer bottles, as you can
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clearly see in this picture. Crucial
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now is the moment when Anja looks at
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the clock and says, "Oh, I have to go,
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early shift tomorrow." Are you driving?
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And that is a situation where there is
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no reproach, no warning. Let’s see
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how Anja reacts to that, and a few
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things stand out quite clearly. Now
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comes the exciting part. We’ve
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highlighted it here like this. She
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could have simply said, "Yes, sure,
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don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
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Instead, we counted them up, and there
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are 12 points she brings up, right?
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We’ll just clarify the first three or
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four of them very briefly. I have my
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own method for that. I never drink
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quickly and I always eat something with
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it. You saw that yourself. And before I
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drive off, I check in with myself.
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Really, honestly, if I feel good and so
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on and so forth. This means she has an
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incredible need to talk. Uh, on the, uh
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, homepage, on the website, we've
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explained that in more detail. So, this
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is a typical self-disclosure, when
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someone does something that actually
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wouldn't be necessary and says more
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about them than the conversation
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requires. This means that here, the
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young woman is actually talking to
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herself and revealing a lot about
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herself and what might be worrying her
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a little bit. Now comes an important
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commentary in the story. She obviously
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had a lot to say, but for whom, really?
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He had only asked if she was driving.
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That’s exactly where we hit the core.
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Now the question: how does he react to
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that? A sentence popped into his head
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that you can read in any textbook. She
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is actually a nurse, she really ought
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to know that. The first thing alcohol
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numbs is the sense of how much you have
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drunk. So, now comes the decisive point
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. He didn't say it, because fortunately
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he thinks of something else that
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doesn't immediately trigger resistance.
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And now the happy thought—not
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criticism, but a look at others. Do you
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know what I always think about with
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things like that? Tip: He is speaking
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about himself, self-disclosure, that is
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very important, not about Anja. Not
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about me at all, about the others.
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Someone might be coming the other way
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who doesn't take care of themselves as
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well as you do. That means he picks up
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on what Anja said, then there's a crash
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. And then comes the gentle warning.
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Think a little further ahead, then it's
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no longer about your cleverness, what
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you had in mind and perhaps even
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mastered, so. Rather, then there is
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just the actual measurement, and thus
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the title here naturally becomes
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ambiguous: the inner measurement, which
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is Anja's feeling that "I can still do
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this," and that might be so, and then
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comes the outer, objective measurement
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by the police, with then very
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unpleasant consequences. The conclusion
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then—for a moment it was quiet in the
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kitchen, only the refrigerator hummed.
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This is exactly where the reader is now
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challenged. There is the keychain in
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the hand. The metal glinted in the warm
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light of the kitchen lamp. Everything
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is wonderful. And you can see these
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words, this idea, taking effect. Anja
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has nothing more to say now. She is
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thinking, and the keychain naturally
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represents the decision of whether to
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leave or stay. The ending remains open.
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The narrator does not reveal what Anja
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is thinking. You have to figure that
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out for yourself. And the nice thing is
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that we have put two possible
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continuations on the website. Here is
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the link again, which we will, of
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course, place in a button up here as
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always. That is actually supposed to
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say button, it doesn't look so good.
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Well, anyway, it’s still
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understandable. There you will also
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find corrections, additions, answers to
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potential questions, and we hope we
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were able to show in this video how
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important this aspect of
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self-disclosure is. And in this case,
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it ultimately led to something positive
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, and we wish everyone that they always
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have that saving idea in such
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situations. Good luck with that.
