Humble

Grievously, I came to a horrible realization this morning. And it goes back to 7th grade, and my "Today's Ism's" class. The discussions were knowledgeable and challenging, and I blossomed. I also treated a rather slow 8th grader with what can only be described as contempt. I rolled my eyes whenever she spoke, I cut her off, too interested in my own energized flow to consider the strugglers. And one day, she called me on it. Told me she saw what I was doing, and it hurt her. To my youthful credit, I felt awful, and listened, and changed.

To my 47 year old shame, I had to hear this again. I made a point to tell the young woman at work - who is not terribly bright, and very social, and artificially pretty (and probably very body dysmorphic), who told me I was doing better, last week. This morning, in a flash of remembrance, I thanked her from the bottom of my soul, and hugged her. She showed more compassion than I did. And I am humbled.