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Never Judge

This is an old but very touching story that has been on the internet and chain e-mails for a while.  I am not sure how many of you have read the story, but here it goes:

A doctor entered the hospital in hurry after being called in for an urgent surgery. He answered the call ASAP, changed his clothes & went directly to the surgery block. He found the boy's father pacing in the hall waiting for the doctor. On seeing him, the dad yelled:


 "Why did you take all this time to come? Don't you know that my son's life is in danger? Don't you have any sense of responsibility?"

 The doctor smiled & said:

 "I am sorry, I wasn't in the hospital & I came as fast as I could after receiving the call...... And now, I wish you'd calm down so that I can do my work"

 "Calm down?! What if your son was in this room right now, would you calm down? If your own son dies now what will you do??" said the father angrily

 The doctor smiled again & replied: "I will say what Job said in the Holy Book "From dust we came & to dust we return, blessed be the name of God". Doctors cannot prolong lives. Go & intercede for your son, we will do our best by God's grace"

 "Giving advises when we're not concerned is so easy" Murmured the father.

 The surgery took some hours after which the doctor went out happy,

 "Thank goodness!, your son is saved!" And without waiting for the father's reply he carried on his way running. "If you have any question, ask the nurse!!"

 "Why is he so arrogant? He couldn't wait some minutes so that I ask about my son's state" Commented the father when seeing the nurse minutes after the doctor left.

 The nurse answered, tears coming down her face: "His son died yesterday in a road accident, he was in the burial when we called him for your son's surgery. And now that he saved your son's life, he left running to finish his son's burial."

We are all quick to judge.  I, too, am guilty as charged. For instace, I see a pedestrian crossing the road with mindless disregard for incoming traffic and I think to myself, "What an idiot!!! Does he/she want to die??! Get a grip, I do not want blood on my hood!!!". 

Thinking back now, perhaps the idiot just lost something - job, a family member, his/her life's savings, who knows?  Maybe that is the reason for the mindlessness.  And maybe, just maybe, he/she really just wants to die.  Then there is this self-righteous, all knowing idiot behind the wheel who thinks he knows better -- that anything or anyone not falling within his perfect life specifications is considered stupid and ignorant or just plain inferior.  And to demonstrate his superiority, this idiot behind the wheel would honk the horn with much gusto to draw the mindless idiot's attention and rub his idiocy to his face! 

Such is a classic day-to-day scenario of people judging people.  The idiot in the view of the self-righteous man behind the wheel, who looks like an idiot himself in the eyes of man in the car just right behind him.  And the judgment chain goes on and on, til you lose focus on who the real idiot is.  In the end, all those who decide to join in the daisy chain ends up being an idiot himself.  Now think about that scenario happening at least once every minute in a random spot in the world and we can safely assume we live in an idiotic world.  It is all because we humans are judgmental.

So the next time you feel like losing it when you see someone doing something seemingly stupid in your eyes, instead of tapping into your superior all-knowing side, extend a friendly smile and a give out a kind and tolerant gaze.  Maybe it will make someone's day a little brighter and make the burden they carry a little lighter.  Of course it does not guarantee that the person behind you doesn't see you as an idiot (specially if it is me behind you) but at least you did your part in transforming the world into a better place.

Okay, okay, okay... I know I am babbling again...  But remember, you shouldn't judge! ;)

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