Jin missed a greeting while recording. When the visitor was upset, Jin recalled a time the visitor had needed him to wait.
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01
Story
Jin was recording an older person's story in the neighborhood recording room.
A visitor at the door saw Jin and raised a hand.
02
Story
Jin kept listening until the story was finished.
The visitor frowned when Jin did not return the greeting.
03
Jin
Thanks for waiting. Could you hear me out for a moment?
When the recording ended, Jin turned toward the door.
04
Story
A few days earlier, the visitor had been taking down an address over the phone.
When Jin said hello, the visitor raised a hand to ask him to wait.
05
Jin
You asked me to wait until you'd written down the address. Just now I was listening until the story was finished.
Jin explained how the greeting and recording had overlapped.
06
Story
The visitor said they now understood why Jin hadn't answered right away.
Jin said it would have helped to let people at the door know what was going on.
07
Story
Ara put a small picture card by the door for the next recording.
She drew a microphone so people outside could tell when a recording was in progress.
08
Jin
Now I can say hello properly. I'm glad you came.
The visitor smiled and said hello in return.
A thought from the Talmud
The man who had been praying asked the officer to hear him out. He asked whether the officer would return a friend's greeting while standing before a king.
The source idea in our own words · Not a direct quotation
Jin was listening until the older speaker finished. To the waiting visitor, it looked as though Jin simply wasn't answering. Jin recalled a time the visitor had been busy taking down an address on the phone, explained what had happened, and acknowledged the wait. A shared experience can make it easier to explain why we couldn't respond at the time.
A modern interpretation for this story
A question to take with you
When someone takes my actions a different way, what experience we've both seen could help me explain?
Share the question together with a link to this story.
About the source and this adaptation
In Berakhot 32b:30–31 of the Babylonian Talmud, a man praying on the road does not return an officer's greeting. When the officer gets angry and threatens him, the man asks for a moment to explain. He asks whether the officer could return a friend's greeting while standing before a king. In 33a:1–2 the man compares the encounter with a king to the moment of prayer, and the officer calms down. The wisdom line paraphrases segment 31. Jin, Ara, the recording room, the memory of taking down an address, and the greetings and dialogue are modern fiction inspired by the exchange and created with AI assistance.
