It is an unfortunate truth about the human condition that we are wired in such a way where looking at an event through all perspectives involved is at the very least challenging to do. Yet what I find most perplexing about the issue is that people do not even make the attempt to do so. Why are people so egotistic as to believe that their view is always the "correct" one, and that the other individual's views are less correct, or not correct at all? I find that disgusting, honestly.

Anyway, it is preached by many religions that we should not judge others. I agree with this view; there is no way we could understand the entirety of another's situation, because we cannot experience the exact same thing. If you believe in a God or another higher power, then those are the only entities with the right to judge, for only they can perceive things in their entireties.

But I do think we can judge actions as a way of improving ourselves. This is only true if we try to look at things from all perspectives involved, however. Whether we succeed in finding the correct total perspective or not is not as important as at least finding a better one than our own limited perspective.

I have an example of an event I experienced yesterday night. I was trying to close up, but a customer showed up a minute before closing time. He told me what he wanted, then wandered to another part of the store. Another customer showed up a little after the designated closing time, so I informed him that we were closed. Then, the first customer came back, and I gave him what he'd asked for. Apparently, the second customer observed this.

And the only perspective the second customer thought about was his own. He felt hurt, I suppose, and decided that I had intentionally not served him while serving another customer. That was the only thought he gave to my view of the event.

So, instead of coming to me and expressing his feelings, he instead went to management and complained. I could have explained and solved the issue then and there, but he had made up his mind that he wasn't looking for the service anymore. (And of course, if a customer approached me and explained that they were upset, I would have went ahead and served him.) He'd been hurt, and so he was motivated by what I believe to be the least developed human desire: revenge. He was not looking for a correction of the problem. He wanted to hurt me in response to what was really a simple misunderstanding, but what he had deemed without due consideration to be an attack against him.

And there's yet another perspective of this that I haven't introduced yet: Management's. And management's perspective is simply this: please the customer. I took this perspective into account as well; I explained to the manager that I would keep the event from happening again, and that I was aware of my error, (however trivial it might have been in actuality.)

The customer's actions are the ones that enlightened me to a fact about human nature. Other people will not necessarily try to be enlightened, mature individuals. They'll allow their basic instincts to guide them and leave it at that. The customer performed an action that I believe to have been less correct than another, as the motivation behind it was inferior to the other. And I'm aware that this sort of thing is an easy mistake to make; I might have made it myself had I not been in the position I was in.

But I have learned the lesson, and so will do my best to not make a similar mistake. I thank the customer for that lesson, and sincerely hope that his feelings were not too terribly injured by my actions.

And that is "polishing the mirror", as my Sensei would say. Always be aware that there are things to learn (or at least reinforce) by your experiences. Every day is an opportunity to learn, and from almost every event, you can take something positive away if you know how.