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Dear Portia,

Sad news on the tube today. A baby battling malnutrition is surviving on coffee alone because the mother doesn't have the means to provide milk. The immediate reaction of a friend in the medical profession was, 'How stupid of her. Everyone knows caffeine shouldn't be given to a baby.'

But really, had she not been my friend, I would've asked her this: 'Who has enough rationality to think when you don't have money and your child's crying out of hunger?'.

Funny thing, this rationality. Sometimes I think it's a privilege given to those who have no issues to deal with. Issues like poverty, for example. We've no right to judge because sometimes circumstances rob us of goodness, of rationality, of the ability to do the right thing at the right time. I was her once. There was a time, a few months after you were born, when money was so scarce and opportunities so far that I could barely buy you diapers, milk or new clothes. And people probably asked of me then, 'Why is she angry all the time? Did having a baby rob her of her humor?' It probably did for a time. People are like that when they're boxed in situations they feel they have no control of.

So, don't be too quick to judge, kiddo. Contrary to what others think, sometimes there is an excuse for rudeness, for indifference, apathy or plain meanness. We are such at certain times in our lives because we're human. And sometimes, we just can't handle the world the way it should be handled.

We are such because it's the only way we know how to cope. And that's nothing to be ashamed of.

♥,
Mom