The Opposite of Snow

 This past week I served as "Table Topics Master" at one of my club meetings.  The "Table Topics Master" asks questions and calls on attendees to answer those questions.  Each attendee gets 1-2 minutes for their answer.  The theme of the day was "opposite day," so I asked questions in the format of "What is the opposite of ______?"

I had not come up with any ideas myself for what the "opposites" would be, so I had no expectations for how people would approach the questions.

When I asked "What is the opposite of snow?" I loved the respondent's approach.  She first described various qualities of snow and then thought aloud about something that would have the opposite qualities.  Snow is cold, falls from the sky, fun to play in.  So what is hot, comes up from the ground, and would not be fun to play in?  Lava of course!  

Her answer made so much sense, even though I'm not sure I would have given the same answer.  Her approach to describing snow and then thinking through the opposite qualities to come up with "lava" as its opposite was so well-received that the very next person used the same approach when asked "What is the opposite of Toastmasters?"  (Their answer:  a drunken fraternity party.)

I love how posing questions and listening to the responses others give can help us learn new ways to approach things, and broaden our perspective.  Even a question that may seem silly like "What is the opposite of snow?" has that power.  My take away:  ask more questions without preconceived notions and listen to both the answers and how others arrive at those answers!


 

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