I’m Chihiro, and I’m raising my five-year-old daughter, Shizuka. The other day, we went to a restaurant with Kasumi and her daughter, Mao, who’s in the same class as Shizuka. It turns out Kasumi is exactly the type of person I despise most—someone who thinks nothing of wasting food. That’s why I said right in front of Mao that leaving food makes you a “bad girl.” I thought that if Kasumi showed some remorse, I might be willing to keep being friends… but in the end, I was the one who got rejected.
I’ll never get over my hatred for wasting food, and I can’t say I agree with Kasumi’s way of parenting. But I was so busy acting self-righteous and looking down on her… I was trying to force my own values on someone else. That’s something I really need to reflect on. I was so obsessed that I got all worked up, and I’m sure Shizuka didn’t enjoy her meal at all. Because of me, she can’t eat with Mao anymore, and I made her feel so sad. If a stranger called my kid a “bad girl,” of course I’d want to snap back with something petty. No matter what the situation is, I want to start thinking about other people’s feelings.