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Lothario
Life continues to teach lessons everyday! I always thought that I was long past being judgmental. But sitting down for a sundowner with my daughter last week in Geneva, I was distracted by this noisy, boisterous, boastful young and strikingly good looking guy at the next table, having his own sundowner with his two lady friends. To begin with I ignored his loud intrusions into the calm of the evening, but soon it became difficult to do so, particularly as he was indulging in narratives, which the conservative mother in me didn't want to hear with my daughter in attendance! So I started cribbing in whispers. My wise young daughter objected gently: "Ma let him be, he's chilling with his friends". But I was visibly unimpressed and getting increasingly irritated. So I kept up my diatribe, albeit discreetly and in whispers, against this boastful Lothario. To the extent that HE became central to our conversation, and I forgot all about my evening out with a tired off-spring!
Then I got up to fetch some nibblies from the counter and as I returned I noticed that the table next to ours had been vacated and my daughter looked very uncomfortable in her seat. "Ma you are going to feel very bad with yourself in a second", she breathed. At my quizzical expression, she just pointed to the tram-station behind us, where the departing trio was waiting. One of them was in a wheelchair, paralyzed waist downwards, skillfully, almost joyously and playfully, maneuvering the tram-station. You can guess the gender of the person in the wheel-chair but I for one felt suddenly drained at that moment, as if something had just slipped out of my soul! People's situations, circumstances in life are so different from what is painted.....and you can be so WRONG in judging them!
Life continues to teach lessons everyday! I always thought that I was long past being judgmental. But sitting down for a sundowner with my daughter last week in Geneva, I was distracted by this noisy, boisterous, boastful young and strikingly good looking guy at the next table, having his own sundowner with his two lady friends. To begin with I ignored his loud intrusions into the calm of the evening, but soon it became difficult to do so, particularly as he was indulging in narratives, which the conservative mother in me didn't want to hear with my daughter in attendance! So I started cribbing in whispers. My wise young daughter objected gently: "Ma let him be, he's chilling with his friends". But I was visibly unimpressed and getting increasingly irritated. So I kept up my diatribe, albeit discreetly and in whispers, against this boastful Lothario. To the extent that HE became central to our conversation, and I forgot all about my evening out with a tired off-spring!
Then I got up to fetch some nibblies from the counter and as I returned I noticed that the table next to ours had been vacated and my daughter looked very uncomfortable in her seat. "Ma you are going to feel very bad with yourself in a second", she breathed. At my quizzical expression, she just pointed to the tram-station behind us, where the departing trio was waiting. One of them was in a wheelchair, paralyzed waist downwards, skillfully, almost joyously and playfully, maneuvering the tram-station. You can guess the gender of the person in the wheel-chair but I for one felt suddenly drained at that moment, as if something had just slipped out of my soul! People's situations, circumstances in life are so different from what is painted.....and you can be so WRONG in judging them!
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