I’ve always wondered why people are always quick to judge others when they clearly don’t ever want to take proactive steps to checkmate their own lives. People will rather teach and caution others, they will see the mistakes and errors of everyone else. Yet, for some reason, they won’t realize that those in their own camp are guilty of the exact same thing.
This is a very annoying trend because it screams of hypocrisy because nothing about it is fair. It doesn’t make sense at all because these people feel the need to judge and mediate, yet they would not do it in their homes. They would rather judge and mediate everyone else than face their own personal battles.
This just reminds me of a fight that happened not long ago in my area. Most of the lodges here are taken care of by caretakers because most of the landlords are not around. The caretakers live closer and they have a more hands-on approach to everything that has to do with the lodge. Most caretakers don’t live in the lodges, they find their homes somewhere else.
However, in this particular lodge, the son of the caretaker also lived in the lodge, and on that fateful day, he got into a fight with another guy, let’s call him K. From what I gathered, what caused it all was that the caretaker’s son said something and K’s sister didn’t like it. I don’t know if he was talking to her directly or if it was just an offhand comment that she reacted to. Either way, she felt offended and responded in kind which led to the argument where he began to threaten to beat her up.
So, K came into the fray and told him that no one was going to touch his sister, bla bla bla… and the fight soon ensued. The people around were able to curtail it, however, since it was a fight, the caretaker had to be involved in the matter, even though his son was involved in it. So, he was told of what happened and he later came around and when it was time to talk to everyone involved in the matter, he only spoke to K.
His son refused to come out, everyone could hear him playing music in the room, but he refused to step out. The caretaker only spoke to K and was trying to get him to see the reasons why fighting was a bad idea. However, nobody was taking him seriously because they all knew the man. If it had been anyone else, he would have involved the police, or at the very least, the community vigilante. That was just the kind of person he was. He didn’t even want to know what caused the fight, he was only interested in telling K the reasons why fighting was a bad idea. K’s sister was so annoyed by the entire thing that she walked out on the conversation. She said that the only way she would be there was if the man’s son was also present because he was the one who started the entire thing. Well, that issue was not settled that day. I don’t know if they finally did settle it.
It’s a really crazy thing, but it’s something that many of us are used to already. People are always quick to preach to others, but many times they ignore their own family. That’s why when a pastor’s child misbehaves everyone is always shocked because “your parent is a pastor, we expect them to raise you better!”
This reminds me of a landlady I used to back in Lagos. This woman never saw anything wrong in her children, she never for once believed that they could do any wrong. She was watching all her tenants though, she wanted to know how many girls the guys brought into the compound, how late the ladies returned home, or how rough the children played. Whenever the smell of marijuana was in the air, she suspected everyone else. There was even a time she suspected me of smoking, I couldn’t even smell the weed that she perceived, and no matter how much I denied it, she kept telling me she didn’t believe me.
Meanwhile, her children were doing it all! As far as I could tell, her sons were the only smokers in the compound during that period. Her children were all disrespectful and they were all noisemakers. It’s insane! The very thing that she was criticizing others for, her children were guilty of them all.
Kinda like the reverse of the reason the statement “Charity begins at home” was coined. That’s those people who would rather help others than their own family. This is the reverse, some people would rather correct the entire world while their immediate family descends into ruins. It’s outrageous.
But then, what can we do? It’s not like they’ll listen to what we have to say. For me, as long as they don’t bring their hypocritical behavior my way, then I’m good. Because at this stage, I no longer have the strength nor will to deal with such. You correct me, I correct you as well. Ojoro cancel ojoro!!!