Actually thinking about someone you don't know

Another politician being caught out barely caught my attention today. Then I read a blog post by Bryan Appleyard about the gloating and sneering which accompanied Chris Huhne's admission of guilt which reminded me that this is yet another human story that seems ultimately small to most of us but is filling the world of those closely involved in it with pain.

Our capacity for compassion and empathy seems limited at the best of times but maybe it would be better for each of us - if seemingly irrelevant to those actually involved - if we took less glee and reinforced fewer conclusions from moments like this. It’s harder to think charitably, and there's little encouragement to do so, but we should, if for no nobler reason than one day it could be us making the news for being stupid (or worse) and we'd prefer to be treated that way.