Empathy

Is it not amazing how we tend to think "I would have handled the situation better" or "how childish is this person, was it really necessary to perform like that?" when
we witness someone else throwing their toys out of the cot? These prime "tantrum" spots being at the airport ticket booth, the till point in the shop when returning an item that was bought, on the phone with Telkom, Eskom, Vodacom the bank and the list goes on and on with the same statement; "I want to speak to a manager.."

We would always have done it differently, said something better and (lets face it) be more adult about it if we were in the same situation. Then of course this is all theory... until it happens to us and the injustice of the situation gives us great gifts of hindsight, empathy and the strange ability to be less judgemental of others. Wisdom comes to us in the words or thoughts of "Now I understand why..."

Maybe we should re look at our moral / ego benchmark which is quite difficult when we are expected to be right whenever we attempt to speak at work, at home, even during play and when you don't know something you have to "wing" it. As an example where are the days of having empathy for the new staff member. For the most part the newbie has to be up and running with 12 years of experience after the introductory week and don't be silly to ask questions like "how do I" or "where can I find". The answers might resemble a hypocritical smirk or the look - "for crying out loud how can you not know?" This comes from an employee that works for the company for 5 years.

Can it be that we have become so programmed to think:
making a mistake = stupid
don't know (due to lack of experience) = stupid
asking questions = cringe because you are definitely not a rough diamond

Maybe we can all re look at our tolerance levels when we are witness to the next "toys thrown out of the cot" session?