The man’s phone was always a mess. It was covered in mugs, donut halves, tissue paper, and permanent marker pens. The wallpaper was a photo of a smiling toddler, his newly adopted child.
The man had remarried last year after his first wife divorced him due to his violence. He had quickly found a new wife, also a divorcee, who had a child of her own. The two of them had decided to adopt the toddler together.
The man’s colleagues were divided in their opinions of him. Some of them respected him for being a good father to his new child. Others, however, despised him for his past violence and his current philandering ways.
One day, one of the man’s colleagues, a woman named Sarah, saw him leave his phone unattended on his desk. She couldn’t help but notice the photo of the toddler on the wallpaper. She felt a pang of sadness for the child, who had been through so much in his short life.
Sarah decided to take a closer look at the phone. She opened the photo album and saw more pictures of the toddler. She also saw text messages between the man and his ex-wife, in which he was verbally abusive to her.
Sarah was disgusted by what she saw. She felt that the man was a danger to the toddler and to his new wife. She decided to report him to the authorities.
The man was arrested and charged with child abuse and domestic violence. He was eventually found guilty and sentenced to prison.
The toddler and his new mother were able to move on with their lives, safe from the man’s abuse. Sarah was glad that she had been able to help them.
The story shows how respect and contempt are two sides of the same coin. When we respect someone, we value them and their opinions. When we feel contempt for someone, we believe that they are worthless and beneath us.
In this story, the man’s colleagues had mixed feelings about him. Some of them respected him for being a good father, while others despised him for his past violence and his current philandering ways.
Sarah’s actions show that we should never turn a blind eye to abuse, even if it is happening to someone we don’t know. If we see something, we should say something. We could be saving a life.
— hiro (@hiro_osaka_jp) August 20, 2023
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