I've talked about "stigma" in earlier posts, but this is different than judging. With stigma, you dislike or avoid people for what they are or whatever condition they are "afflicted" with (mental illness, physical illness, whatever). With "judging" it's based on a behavior or belief of another person.
OK. With that being said......I'm guilty!!!! I admit to guiltiness (that isn't a real word, I don't think). What or whom do I judge, you ask? I have the tendency to judge my kids' school friends (or any friends, for that matter) who don't at least try to communicate with me.
I know deafness can cause nervousness, scary feelings, intimidation, etc., but I'm nice. I'm not scary. I try to chat with them, but they usually end up running for the hills when I do. Many times, the friends will ask someone from my family how to sign this or that. That's effort. I appreciate it. But it's unusual. Most are horrified. It's like that for most hearing people, but I've gotten used to it with strangers. Friends are different.
Isn't that terrible of me? And when people judge me, I feel more and more isolated. However, that comes with the broken ears. But, I mean they teach gorillas sign language. That's a start, I guess. Next, I think they should teach them the dance to "Thriller." But I digress.....
I don't know what that word means, but it seemed like a good ending to this blog.
Have you experienced judgement? Were you the judgie or the judger? Tell me about it; let me know I'm not alone in this. CONFESS!
I try to be a good person. I do. But yes, I'm only human and we have all made mistakes. I judge more often than I would like.
ReplyDeleteI recently joined a church and their lesson lately has been to "not pass judgement upon others". Yesterday the minister was telling the same old tale and then tripped when he mentioned how our nation is trying to accept gay marriage. I felt as though he ruined the lesson but then he tried to recover by admitting that though he may not be a fan, all beings deserve to live without judgement.
Many of us judge, but we are still adjusting.
As for gorillas signing and dancing; if they can learn to stand upright and walk, they can surely dance too. I just hope it's caught on camera so we can witness it because though I'm learning to sign I don't live near gorillas to communicate with them about whether or not they can dance.