Went to a coffee shop the other day. Read a good book while listening to soft music. It was one of those places where people go to sit and have a quiet moment.
So relaxing.
Then a phone rings on the table across from me. There were four people sitting there, and nobody answered.
Ring, ring, ring...
Even though my earbuds have noise cancellation, this never-ending ringing went right through. I got more and more annoyed and thought to myself:
“How dare you? No concern for the other guests who came here to sit and have a quiet moment. So disrespectful.”
Then one of them noticed the illuminated display. He turned to the owner of the phone and informed him of the situation — in sign language.
It turned out to be a group of deaf people, and one of them had accidentally unmuted the phone. His expression told the whole room how sorry he was about the accident.
There I was with my judgmental thoughts, feeling foolish and reminding myself:
“Never judge without knowing the whole story.”