In the eye of the beholder

When I first saw this picture I wondered if it was some kind of a symbol.

It struck me as artistic and expressive, but I didn’t think it was an actual place.

As it turns out, this is a picture of a real place with quite a story behind it. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s exercise our imagination: What’s the first thought that comes to your mind when you look at this picture?

Now for the facts.

The picture is of the Fenway Park baseball stadium in Boston, and the red seat marks the longest home run ever hit at Fenway. As it happened, the ball landed on the head of an unfortunate spectator sitting right at that spot, knocking him out cold for a good ten minutes.

Now that you know the story, here comes the question: So what DOES this picture stand for?

A stroke of luck? (and if so, is it of good luck or bad luck?) 

Or perhaps it’s a close call? Destiny? Individuality? That we never really know the full story? That there is more to things than meets the eye?

The answer is in the eye of the beholder, but I can tell you what THIS beholder took from it (both before and after I heard the actual story): One’s experience may be profoundly unique, even though, on the face of it, we are surrounded by the exact same circumstances as everybody around.

By Didi Gorman

Image: http://yawkeywayreport.com/fenway-feature-3-why-is-there-just-one-random-red-chair/