She Ditched Me!

Picture this scene: I am in a department store and I am talking to a lady. Actually, "she" is talking to me. She is describing an event she took part in and had particularly enjoyed. She is animated, all smiles, totally excited. She goes on for quite a while. Then, all of a sudden, she turns around and walks away. Now, how would you define such a behavior? I admit that non judging it negatively is not easy. Of course, it's not a big deal, it is not an "offense" and I am not offended in the least. I am just puzzled. I can't help considering the whole situation kind of weird. I can neither understand it or find a justification to it, because I wouldn't do anything like that. Aha!! Here we go. Found the key word!  "I". I am comparing that person to myself. Therefore, starting from a behavior that does not correspond to my expectations (rather logical, though! Sigh!) I end up applying a label to the poor unaware lady. "She is peculiar", I might think. Or, "She needs an audience". Or even "She doesn't care about my feelings". All merciless definitions of a human being who, from their point of view, might have had plenty of reasons for walking away, actually ditching me, without saying good-bye.  She may have suddenly remembered an urgent errand, or seen someone who was going to get the item she was planning to buy, or spotted a friend she needed to talk to... Or she might simply have got distracted and forgotten that she was talking to someone (It happens, you know!). Her behavior can be still considered strange or even "unkind", but the lady certainly had no bad intentions. Let's try to make a distinction between an individual and their conduct. The attitude is not the person. Let's all think about this the next time we feel resentment towards a fellow human being and let's endeavor to avoid thinking of them too severely.