For example, Several years ago I worked with a lady. She was always late for class or would forget to come. It could get so frustrating. I later found out that not only had she found her husband dead but her son too, both suicide. WOW! How does someone live through that?
There's that cashier or sales clerk that doesn't greet you. Yes, they should try their best to put a smile on their face but sometimes that is hard.
I step back and look because I have been there. I had the crazy stalker ex-boyfriend who called my school phone repeatedly for hours on end, sat in the vacant lot beside my work, called my mom to tell her terrible things that were not true, called my parents house nonstop and only to hang up. I moved home to live with my parents so I wouldn't be in the same city as him. Well. Guess what? Somehow, I'm sure the Internet, he found out where that was and drove by a few times. I was a new teacher then, so I put ALL my free time into my classroom and lesson plans. It kept my mind off things.
I've also been in the relationship that sucks the life out of you. I was physically and emotionally drained. In 2007, I started seeing the person I thought was supposed to spend my life with. He was everything I ever asked for. Yes, he had some issues from his past but they were dealt with and he was on the right track. We were together a year and a half, engaged to be married, and he slowly became an addict. He started out drinking here and there. Then he drank too much and started taking pills. Eventually he moved out and we tried to work things out but he couldn't get his and addiction under control. No matter how hard he tried and he tried. He'd go months without a drink and then something would happen and the cycle would start all over. Of course I loved him and stood by him hoping things would get better, that he would get better for me. He was so unstable. One minute he would love on me and be so sweet and then say the meanest things.
During this year and a half roller coaster and battle, I was trying to work on achieving my National Board Certification and had some other time consuming things going on. Finally, I had had all I could take and we sperated for good. He would still call every now and then and tell me how much he loved me and how terrible he felt about everything. He even talked suicide and overdose. He planned his funeral. A year after we separated, his dad calls me to tell me they found him dead in his apartment. I freaking lost it at work and balled up in my bathroom crying my eyes for what seemed like hours. I had never felt pain and heartache like that before. I had to leave work. Good thing it was the second to last day of the year, because I wouldnt have been worth a dime for a week or more.
During this roller coaster of a relationship, It was hard to get up in the morning after sleeping very little or crying all night. I couldn't focus on paper writing at home, so I did most of it at school while my intern tried to teach and my kids worked. I ate lunch in my room with my best friend (she worked with me) because I needed to talk and be alone not with table full of women. I was even guilty of turning my light off during my planning time and taking a 45 minute nap. I DIDN'T sleep at home! I probably didn't smile at people when I passed them in the hallway.
I was also in a work environment that I hated. The boss was inappropriate and didn't care for me in the end. Now, I have a work environment that isn't perfect but it's 100 times better
All this to say, don't judge. You don't know what they're going through.
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