The Temperature of Human Nature

This is a piece of advice from a senior colleague in journalism who has since retired.

After leaving the broadcasting career he had devoted himself to for many years, he began a business in downtown Los Angeles.

One day, he stopped by a Korean restaurant in Koreatown and happened to notice an acquaintance he had once been close to during his days at the station. Hoping to exchange a friendly greeting, he waited for their eyes to meet. After some time, their gazes finally crossed, and he raised his hand in a gesture of recognition.

But the acquaintance turned away, pretending not to see him.

The senior—once a well-known sports anchor in Korea—remarked with quiet resignation, “Such is the way of the world,” and could not hide his loneliness. He added, almost as a lesson drawn from experience, “When you’re in the media, don’t give your heart away too easily.”

A junior colleague who had spent years working in bank lending shared a similar story.

An upperclassman from his high school had applied for a business loan. Though he tried in every possible way to make it work, the conditions ultimately did not allow for approval.

Some time later, they encountered each other at an event. Feeling apologetic, the junior greeted him first. Yet the senior walked past without acknowledging him, leaving behind an awkward scene witnessed by others who knew nothing of the circumstances.

When relationships are shaped by purpose or self-interest from the outset, they rarely endure.

A bond that exists only in times of benefit is not a connection—it is a transaction.

What the senior meant by “not giving too much of your heart” was not coldness, but perhaps a form of self-protection born of lived experience.

And so people say: one should neither place blind trust in others, nor feel too deeply wounded by the fickleness of human nature.

                      — From Reporter’s Notes by Ki Jun Kwon —

Today’s Reflection

★ What truly matters in life is not the number of people around you, but the few who remain by your side without any stake or self-interest. ★

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