A Larger Perspective

A Larger Perspective

I must remember that the jerk who just cut me off in traffic is a single mother who just finished a nine hour shift and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

I must remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man with droopy drawers who can’t seem to make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

I must remember that the scary looking bum (who really ought to get a job!), begging for money in the same spot every day is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

I must remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking my shopping progress is savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.

Kindly remember that every person you see, no matter what you may think of them, sprang from the same stock, is smiled upon by the same skies, and on equal terms with yourself breathes, lives, and dies.