This afternoon I was in the kitchen with FoxyJ when a neighbor walked by our dining room window. He was an older man with a little pot belly, and he was wearing a wifebeater. After he passed I turned to Foxy and said, "You know, I can see how a wifebeater on a man who has a nice body could be attractive, in a white trash sort of way, but on an old dude with a poochy tummy sticking out--"
And then I stopped because I looked out the window and there he was, passing by on his way back wherever he'd come from. And the window was open.
Had he heard me talking about him? How embarrassing. What if he thought I was a horrible person? Worse, what if he thought he was a horrible person for having a poochy tummy and wearing a wifebeater? What if he went home and he was so distraught that he actually beat his wife? Who was I to cause such turmoil in this man I'd never met?
And in that moment a heavenly light shone down on me (Foxy had turned on the kitchen light) and I learned an Important Truth: Before you go mocking some stranger who you've no right to judge, be absolutely sure he can't hear you.
But what if, by overhearing your comments, he decided to go home and change his diet and exercise, getting himself into better shape and extending his life? Or what if he realized that a wifebeater was a horrendous fashion blunder on his part and he changed his style to highlight his assets?
ReplyDeleteThen it will have been for good.
So maybe the lesson is that mocking people openly is actually a form of service?
ReplyDeleteI'd still close the window first.
ReplyDeleteWhat is a wifebeater?
ReplyDeleteCraig--Great, now I'm getting conflicting messages. How am I supposed to decide who's right?
ReplyDeleteTK--This is a wifebeater.
That's easy—Edgy is always right.
ReplyDeleteOh good, I like easy answers.
ReplyDelete