23 July 2013

Context

To a mother, it means something is wrong.

To a passenger boarding an airplane, it means that the next few hours will be that much more unpleasant.

But to my team of anesthesiologists and surgeons packed into the operating room, hearing the crying of an infant was music to our ears. It meant that the little guy we had operated on had woken up from anesthesia and was doing all right.

Context is everything.