The following story exemplifies how we should never judge others. An older woman boarded a crowded bus in Israel. There weren’t any available seats, so she was forced to stand. Next to her sat a young girl. The girl looked out the window pensively and ignored the woman beside her. The elderly woman expected the young girl to offer her seat, but the girl — though aware of the situation — did not look up.
The woman said, —She’s not even looking at me; it’s mindboggling. Today’s teens are so self-involved, so entitled!—
The other standing passengers nodded their heads sympathetically.
—I’m so confused,— the older woman said, unable to understand why the young girl still refused to get up and offer her seat even after the rudeness was pointed out to her.
Instead, the girl stared out the window, totally oblivious to the conversation around her.
A man standing next to the woman said, —Frankly, it’s scandalous.—
—It’s not even crossing her mind that maybe I need the seat more than she does?— the critical woman continued.
A second man concurred. —Zero respect.—
The woman said, —It’s a lack of manners. What a generation.— she sighed, expanding her criticism from the girl to all her imagined peers.
Just then, a woman across the aisle wrapped up a call on her cell phone. —I have to go,— she said, shutting her phone and rising. She opened a folded wheelchair and proceeded to help the young girl, apparently her daughter, out of her seat.
The passengers — who had been so free with their loud and vocal criticism — were silenced, and it was evident from their faces that they were deeply ashamed of themselves and regretted every word they’d uttered.
We learn from this story that we must be aware of our tendency to judge others and the consequences of this tendency. First, we judge, and soon enough, we feel the need to relay it to others. It is then an easy next step to humiliating the object of criticism in public. The woman did not hesitate to complain about the girl in front of a crowded bus. She was so sure of her judgment, so confident that she was right. Because of her, the others joined in on the harsh criticism.