Experience

Contest entry. Prompt is quote.: "Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes."

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Experience

Carl was in his customary spot in the back of the coffee shop. It was mid-afternoon, so he had it pretty much to himself. His laptop was open, but he was not typing. Carla walked up to him. He saw her coming. He leaned back, closing his eyes.

“Hey, whaca doin’?”

Carl opened his eyes and grinned. “Struggling with this month’s writing challenge.”

“Oh, that Oscar Wilde quote?”

“That’s one, ‘experience is simply the name we give our mistakes’.”

Carla sat down. “Why the ‘struggle’?”

“Is it really true?”

Carla shrugged. “Something you want to talk about?”


Carl shrugged. “What’s there to talk about?”

“You want to know what I wrote?”

Carl shook his head. “Not really.”

“How rude. Just for that, I’m not going to buy you another chai latte.”

Carl laughed. “Yes, it was rude, but I don’t want to have you write this for me.”

“I wasn’t planning on writing it for you, but it got me thinking. I want to know what your thoughts are.” Carla laughed. “Who knows, I may end up rewriting my paper.”


Carl pushed back his chair and stood. “Okay, mocha latte for you?”

“Can I see what you’ve written?"

Carl shook his head. “Nothing to see. Be right back. Think good thoughts.”

Carla stood and bent over to look at Carl’s screen. It was blank. He hadn’t written anything. She sat down, then looked out the window. In a few moments, Carl came back and slid her mocha latte to her.

“You never have this problem,” said Carla. “You always have ideas.”

Carl shrugged. “Oh, I have ideas, just no good ones. What was your idea, ideas?”

“No real ideas, I just thought about choices I made which didn’t turn out so good.”

“Like what?”

“Going to the prom with the wrong guy…”

“Why was that wrong?”

“He got drunk, became a real bore.”

“And what did you learn?”

“Don’t put myself in a position where I can’t get out, can’t leave.”

Carl cocked his head. “Bad?”

Carla shook her head. “Not bad, bad. Just awkward and stupid.”

“So, was it an experience or a mistake?”

Carla smiled. “Oh, I see. It has to be one or the other?”

“Isn’t that what the quote says. If it’s a mistake, we sugarcoat it and call it an experience.”

Carla shook her head and leaned forward. “No, I don’t think he said that at all.” She looked away, then back.
“Maybe you’re right. Everything is an experience. If it’s a bad experience, a mistake, we don’t call it that.”

“Something like that, but you hit on it, everything is an experience. Some good, some bad.” Carl smiled. “And some just so, so. Was your prom a mistake?”

Carla nodded, then returned the smile. “Ya, I’d call it a mistake. I wouldn’t want to do it again.”

“Did you learn from it? What with experience being the best teacher.”

“Actually, the worst teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward.”

Carl laughed. “I read the same quote. Oscar seems to want it both ways.”

“Well, it’s true. The best teacher would be to learn from somebody else’s mistakes, from a teacher, say.”

“But do we really learn from someone else?”

“It’s about the only reason to go to school. We could learn everything we need to know by doing...”

“Yes, and making a lot of mistakes, avoidable mistakes, in the process.” He tapped the top of his computer.

“Like this, and you, and us talking. The paper is an experience. I’m learning...”

“Just what are you learning?” asked Carla, grinning.

“That my tea is getting cold.”

“Well, then drink your tea and I’ll drink my coffee and we will try to turn this mistake into a good experience.”

Carl laughed. “Glad you dropped by.”

Carla smiled behind her coffee cup. “Glad you were here.”

They both hid behind their cups but looked at each other. Finally, Carl spoke. “Do you have a problem calling your mistakes mistakes?”

Carla put down her cup and shook her head. “No, not really. You?”

“I don’t think so. At least, not to me. Now, I might not want to admit my mistakes to somebody else.”

“Would you call it an experience?”

Carl shook his head. “I probably wouldn’t mention it, but I’d be aware of it. I’d like to think I’d learn from it. Maybe Oscar should have said mistakes are the best teacher.”

Carla raised her hand. “But are they? Didn’t we decide it is better to learn from somebody else’s mistakes? Mistakes or knowledge?”

“I think I see where you’re going. Can knowledge only be gained through experience, or can it be given, taught to another?”

“We decided knowledge can be taught, but experience…” She stopped and raised her hand again. “Can you really learn from somebody else’s experience, or does being aware of that experience just make it easier to deal with the experience, the mistake?”

Carl grinned. “I’m really glad you stopped by. I miss these discussions. It’s like being back in school.”

Carla laughed. “Now, there was a real experience. Think we learned anything?”

Carl nodded. “Yes, we did learn something. We learned to think, or I think we did. How about you. Are you smarter for going to school. Could you have learned to think about things the way we are?”

Carla nodded. “Maybe not as much and not as quickly, but if you are around people who think, who question, you could learn how to think.”

“Ahhh…yes, to question. I think that is what they taught us. Gave us a few facts and then the tools to question those facts. Like this quote, this exercise, we had to think, to question: Is Oscar right?”

“Well, was he, is he?”

“Partially.”

“Partially?”

“Yes, partially. It may not be true for you and me, but it may be true for some. We’ve learned from our mistakes...”

“Speak for yourself, John.”

Carl laughed. “Okay, I think I’ve learned from mine. I’d like to think I haven’t made the same mistake twice. You?”

“I haven’t gone to any other proms,” said Carla, grinning.

Carl laughed. “Been on any other bad dates?”

Carla broke into a big grin. “Yes, but I always take my car or have enough for cab fare.”

Carl lunged at his computer.

“Wow!” said Carla. “Go easy, boy.”

Carl looked up. “Sorry, I wanted to catch this thought while it was fresh.”

“What thought?”

“You and me and what we’re doing.”

“What are we doing?”

“Talking, thinking, doing.”

“So?”

“So, that is my paper. I’m writing about what we were talking about, what we’re doing, and what it means.”

Carla laughed. “And, just what does it mean?”

“I think Oscar got it wrong, or he was trying to be funny. We talk about our experiences, our good or so-so experiences, but not necessarily our mistakes. We try to hide those. And when we expose them, we call them mistakes. We don’t pretend they’re not important.”

Carla nodded. “Okay, that is true for you and me, but is it true for everyone?”

“Enough so I don’t think Oscar was right.” Carl leaned back and smiled. “I may even question his other quote about the worse teacher, test and then the lesson.”

“You’re running out of time, and so am I. I think I need to rewrite my paper.” She stood. “Okay, if I steal your idea?”

“Our idea.” Carl held up his coffee cup. “Next time, the tea is on you.”

Carla held out her hand. Carl stood and took her hand. “Deal,” said Carl with a nod.

“You going to be here much longer?” asked Carla.

Carl shook his head. “Probably not, the thoughts are coming faster than I can type. I should have this ready to post in a few minutes. How long do you think it will take you to rewrite your story?”

“An hour or two, I think I can salvage most of it,” said Carla.

“What do you think about Thai or Chinese?”

“Are you asking me for a date?”

Carl laughed. “You have enough for carfare?”