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The Court of Life


I think it is amazing how we - me included - are skewed to judge people. We all do it, but some acts of judging a person or something is more dangerous than others.

You may say "I'm not judgemental", and you're right to feel so. If it is true, good on you. If not, take heart that it's not always detrimental.

We see a guy who drives a shabby car, or wear shabby shoes, and we judge the person. "Probably a salaried staff of a small firm", we say, and that in reality is judging a person. Quite harmless I suppose, as it will be forgotten just as quickly as the fleeting moment of judging itself.

We see a house, and we judge the occupants. We see people and we judge their habits. Quite harmless, and also wasteful if you ask me.

But then there's the judging of a different kind; one where our judgement actually affects a person, or persons.

Take for example a situation when a new employee joins our firm or department. Naturally, we will be sizing the person up (as he or she would be sizing us up as well). Then we hear "stories" about the person, and fact or fiction, we form our opinions. Then we hear "true account first person stories" about the person, and fact or fiction, again we form further opinions.

If the newbie is unlucky, the formed opinion could very well make his or her life difficult. Other people will hear the stories, and it could spread. Like wildfire. And human nature is prone to giving life to gossipy and scandalous stories. His or her good values? Ah well, a story for another day...

Fact is, we are no one to judge anyone whom we do not know. But the other fact is, we do. Sometimes when we do it, we affect the person, or his or her plans, just because we feel it is our right.

Be like a judge: make judgements based on facts. If you can't get the facts, try. If you have the facts, then judge, correctly. Otherwise, you're more than likely to be wrong in your judgement. Nobody likes being wrong, least of all the person wrongly judged.

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