I went to a lunch with former high schoolmates I’ve not seen in years. Most of us were glad to see each other. One of my schoolmates, an esteemed cardiologist, however, didn’t want to make conversation with me; he seemed to prefer to talk to other schoolmates who were either medical doctors or scientists with Ph.D.’s, or in other words, people who he saw as peers, not someone who wasn’t in their class.
| This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC |
In another case, a fellow member of an office building board of trustees I was also a member of thanked me via an online text for the tikoy (rice cake) I sent him during Chinese New Year. He texted that the tikoy was a blessing in his otherwise slew of personal challenges he was facing. I responded with a cheerful emoji . He texted back saying his problems were not funny. I replied saying he shouldn’t be so serious. He didn’t answer back.
There are some people who are plainly different in how they see and treat others. We shouldn’t judge them.
Maybe my doctor classmate was hungry, and he just wanted to eat than talk at the time.
The senior board member may just had been grumpy at the time.
Still, we shouldn’t be impolite or rude or worse, disrespectful. The doctor could have just said he’d like to eat and maybe talk later. The board member could have been more tactful in his text.
Maybe I’m not a person who deserves more respect than others who have higher stature. But then, I long ago had stuck to a policy where I take what others think with a grain of salt.
We live in a world where many people really don’t care about their fellow men or women. It’s understandable given the busy demands we face at work and at home. We have already too much on our plates and spending time caring about the welfares of others would be an additional burden we could ill afford.
Still, we should not be disrespectful. And we shouldn’t dislike people who show disrespect. Instead, we should just shrug our shoulders and move on.
If we work in jobs or reside in homes where we can’t get along with superiors or relatives, we should either just learn to live with these people or move out. It’s a matter of how much disrespect we can take.
As the saying goes: “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”
Ellery's Essays 