my thoughts

this morning when i travelled on the mtr, i saw a little girl sitting on the lap of her philippino maid singing "mary had a little lamb". i thought to myself, "how cute she is!" after a while, the girl, who is of kindergarten age, called her mum who stood not quite near her. so, before she called her mum, i did not realize that her mother was nearby.

however, her mum, who is a working woman and dressing smartly, seemed so concentrated in a conversation with a man standing in front of her that she did not give any response to the little girl. at that moment, i thought to myself again, "what a mother she is! it seems she does not care for her little daughter! simply put the responsibility to the philippino maid! so irresponsible!"

as i was having pity with the little girl, i also saw that this woman was in a "discussion" with the man in front of her. i didn't know if the man was her husband or not, but i heard the woman said, "...not even a phone call..." and she wept. the man was sad and it seemed that he felt helpless with what the woman said. so i thought to myself again, "oh, maybe they have problems in their relationship or maybe they have problems not yet solved. that is why the woman is so unhappy that she simply does not have the mood and energy to care for her little daughter."

then, i had more sympathy with the woman. and i told myself that i should not jump into conclusion before i see the whole picture.