It is easy to judge somebody when you have only heard one side of the story.
One version arrives first. It may be clear, emotional, and easy to repeat. We decide who was wrong, who should have known better, and what the moment says about someone’s character. By the time we hear anything else, our minds may already be made up.
Then we hear the other person and realize how much was missing.
I want to understand what I am judging, so I try to hear both sides. Harm should be named. Context helps us name it carefully.
I am trying to slow down before I turn one moment into a person’s whole identity. People carry information I cannot see, fears they have never named, and histories that do not fit inside the version that reached me first.
The first impression is only the part of the story that reached me first.