Be curious, not judgmental

A great anecdote from Jason Sudeikis’ titular character in what is arguably the climax of Ted Lasso, season one:

Guys have underestimated me my entire life. And for years, I never understood why. It used to really bother me.

But then one day, I was driving my little boy to school and I saw this quote by Walt Whitman and it was painted on the wall there.

It said, “Be curious, not judgmental.” I like that.

So I get back in my car and I’m driving to work, and all of a sudden it hits me.

All them fellas that used to belittle me, not a single one of them were curious. They thought they had everything all figured out. So they judged everything, and they judged everyone.

And I realized that their underestimating me… who I was had nothing to do with it. ’Cause if they were curious, they would’ve asked questions. You know?

Questions like, “Have you played a lot of darts, Ted?” To which I would’ve answered, “Yes, sir. Every Sunday afternoon at a sports bar with my father, from age ten till I was 16, when he passed away.”

Barbecue sauce.