Roundabout

I was watching a T.V. cooking competition the other evening that involved several chefs preparing a number of different courses for a panel of expert judges. After each course, the cook whose meal was the lowest rated was eliminated from the competition. As I was listening to the critiques of the judges, one of them began to really lay into one of the contestants. She noted that he used a spoon to taste his dish and then he continued to use this same spoon to stir his pot. She was absolutely disgusted that the cook was mixing his saliva in with food that he was planning to serve. She called him unprofessional, refused to taste his dish, and she made it clear that he would not be moving on in the competition due to this grevious act. Yet to my eyes, in a roundabout way, she likely is a much worse offender than the man that she verbally attacked.

A close-up camera shot of the judge's hands showed that she chews her fingernails. It was apparent from the condition of her hands that this wasn't some minor nervous habit, but a chronic behavior bordering on psychological disorder. She had essentially gnawed off all of her fingernails and her hands were absolutely sickening to behold. Her fingers must be in her mouth all the time. As she spends a significant portion of her day in the kitchen or on cooking sets and is constantly using her fingers to sample her cooking, it follows that she is mixing into the food her saliva and likely traces of blood from her nasty little finger stumps.

How often in our lives do we chide someone with a harsh tone for something that we are just as guilty of doing? We lash out with a waggling finger and a clucking tongue for behaviors that are prominent in our own lives. Are we blind to our own actions or figure that because we are so wonderful that we get a pass? I can't tell you how often I have criticized someone for their failures, habits, or shortcomings, when I suffer from the same lot.