Isn’t it one of the silliest ideas in the world, that old motto that tells us that “there are two sides to every story”? Most stories have many, many sides and to think that two sides will cover it is just too simplistic. There are not just two sides to any story; there are a whole range of possible viewpoints and understandings of different situations. Most situations are more complex than that, most situations and more challenging than that to resolve. When you recognize this, then nothing is more frustrating than hearing someone say, “Well, you know, every side has two stories.”
UPDATE Nov. 1st 2004, 8:03pm. Yeah, oops. I meant, “Well, you know, every side has two stories.” I was sloppy. Though, now that I think of it, “every side has [at least] two stories” would be very appropriate to say about political partisanship. Thanks, Matt.
UPDATE Nov 2nd 2004. Good God. Okay, I meant to say, “There’s two sides to every story.” Kat, yes, thanks for pointing out the error. I was so caught up considering the neatness of the error that I forgot to pay attention to the correction.