I Was too Quick to Judge

I watched him drink one beer after another, and another. It continued on until 5 p.m. for my whole shift. I start work at 12.

I was surprised at the behavior of this old man. I had never seen him around town. This was in Kaslo, Canada, and it’s one of the smallest towns I’ve been to. Everyone knows each other in the area.

I asked my grandma who this mystery man was. Without hesitation, she called him the town drunk. Shortly after, she mentioned that he had been best friends with a woman who had passed away just a few months before.

I immediately felt sorry for the man. Here I was, judging him, with no idea what inspired his behavior. I thought about how losing my best friend would affect me, which brought up a great empathy in me for this man.

Later that night, my family went for dinner at the pizzeria where I had watched him drink his beer earlier.

We were finishing our pizza when I realized that there was a faint piano playing in the background. Not only was this person playing the piano, but it was the most beautiful piano playing I have ever heard in my life. The song was unrecognizable, but it brought tears to my eyes. As we were leaving, I realized that I recognized the pianist. It was the old man.

This taught me that we can never judge a person by their appearance, as we may never have any idea about what could be going on in someone’s life.