I was at a celebration of a pidyon haben, redemption of the first born. Sitting down at the meal, my little sister asked me to pass the soda bottle. I poured for her, since she is little and the bottle heavy. As soon as I started pouring, the woman next to me - whom I had never seen before - grabbed her cup and jutted it out in front of me, obviously wanting me to pour for her as well. How rude, I thought. She doesn't even say "hello" or "please"! Of course, I poured it for her. Shortly thereafter, my other sister asked for soda. I poured for her too, and the lady immediately thrust out her cup. Again, no please, no thanks. "What is this?" I thought, but I said nothing. Toward the end of the meal, someone across the table was pouring a drink. She noticed, too, and held out her cup. I just watched and wondered.

Then, I noticed that one of her hands had an irregular curl at the wrist. It suddenly dawned on me that she had not once used that arm to eat with, but left it resting on her lap the entire meal, always using the other hand to pick up her fork or cup. It was now obvious that she had trained herself to notice other people pouring drinks because she could not lift the bottle with one hand and pour for herself. This was probably how she'd grown up, relying on other people to do it for her. I kicked myself under the table for being so foolish, for not trying to see "The other side of the story." I hope next time I will.