Judging a Book by Its Cover

I chuckled when this picture was sent to me. The depiction seems obvious and shocking from the perspective of a first grader. I really laughed though when I read the story that went along with it…

A first grade girl handed in the drawing below for her homework assignment. The teacher graded it and the child brought it home. She returned to school the next day with the following note:

Dear Ms. Davis,
I want to be perfectly clear on my child’s homework illustration.
It is NOT of me on a dance pole on a stage in a strip joint surrounded by male customers with money.
I work at Home Depot and had commented to my daughter how much money we made in the recent snowstorm.
This drawing is of me . . . selling a shovel!!!!!
Sincerely,
Mrs. H

Even if this is only an urban legend, it illustrates how even things that appear extremely clear may not be. It also illustrates how stories completely change the way we interpret the things we see. When we are trying to explain something using data alone, if we don’t help explain the story, we may find ourselves quite embarrassed by the story they tell themselves.