A lesson

Recently I witnessed someone who is older and generally thought to be wiser than me be incredibly cruel to someone else. I don't want to the tell the story in too much detail because doing so would expose the individuals involved, so I'll just give you the thoughts I took away from it. This happened in a professional setting, and the situation was created one-sidedly by someone who should hold him/herself to higher standards, both due to his/her job and public religious beliefs.

Nothing excuses you from being kind to others. Nothing. It doesn't matter if you're struggling through your own personal situation, you still at the very least acknowledge those around you. And if the people around you have spent any time at all - in this case, it was years - putting forth any type of effort to help improve your life, you thank them, often, and in heartfelt ways. This is in some ways even more important when you are in a position to serve as a role model to others; to me, everyone is always in a position where they could be seen as a role model - you're always being watched. I am just so disgusted with what I saw. It wasn't blatant hate, just a relatively quiet yet dramatized snub where gratitude was clearly due. And it's not just a failure on religious grounds - it's a matter of human decency. I've seen atheists act with more kindness and love than this Christian. And I've seen custodians act with more thoughtfulness than this person, who on an organizational chart would be only one or two rungs down from CEO.

That's all I really have to say about that. Another lesson learned in how not to be.