So the title of this may not be the best title but hang with me for a bit and perhaps it will make a little more sense.
I was sitting in the waiting room of a local tire shop minding my own business when this older couple walked in. This older lady was quite the talker. She talked to everyone and let me add that she talked rather loud. She looked over at her husband as she was explaining her flat tire to the employee and said, "Maybe our neighbor got out of jail and let the air out." She giggled and thought it was funny. Me on the other hand. I didn't think it was as funny.
I'm sure the last thing on her mind was that her comment might hit close to home with me. Why? Because we have this image of those that are affected by addiction or those that might know someone in prison.
Addiction is only seen in the poor places of our community. Addiction only affects a certain class or a certain race. People in prison don't look like your average Joe. WRONG.
It's easy to make jokes about those that make bad decisions. It's easy to point fingers. It's easy to blame. It's easy to let things just fly out of our mouths without thinking about the person sitting next to us.
We talk about our problems but then once we hear the problems our neighbor is facing, our problems don't seem so big.
When words fly out of our mouths we don't realize the pain they may cause others.
We may think someone has it all together because just by looking at them, it seems that way.
A smiling kid... hurting because his family is broken.
A wife and husband... holding hands and laughing... despite the news they were just told.
A man walking down the street... because he has given up. He's the one that's obvious... to most. But your neighbor may be in the same boat... they just "look" a little better. Clean up a little better.
We judge... We are all guilty of it. We judge based on looks. On color. On appearance. On what we know. On what we think we know. On what we hear. On what we read. On everything but we fail to realize that looks...can kill.
Next time you want to say something that could kill... think twice. You never know what the person sitting next to you is fighting.
Maybe you are hurting... so are they. Maybe you are on your mountain top...your valley is coming.
Our words matter. Life. Death. Fountain. Drain.
The choice is yours. Make it matter.
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