When the System Is Broken, We Must See With Compassion

A recent moment caught on camera at LaGuardia Airport—where a woman broke down in public—quickly made the rounds online. Most people laughed. Some criticized. But few paused to ask: What really led to her breaking point?

As shared in this Justice Moms article, her outburst wasn’t just personal—it was the visible crack in a much larger, invisible wall. Overbooked flights, endless delays, poor communication, and a lack of support for caregivers—these are not just inconveniences; they are significant issues. They are also systemic issues.

Too often, people rush to judgment of individuals without grace or compassion. This is especially true for women, even more so for women of color, ignoring the pressures that systemic challenges place on people.

These same people don’t take the time to pause and ask themselves, “What is REALLY going on here? What triggered this person to react or respond the way that they did?” Instead, they choose to comment, ridicule, scold, and publicly humiliate someone’s pain, not even stopping to consider how it would feel to be in that person’s situation.

At Purpose-Filled Solutions & Evolutions, we believe in looking beyond the surface to get to the heart of why people do what they do. We believe in the power of empathy, compassion, context, and courage. This moment is a reminder: people break when systems fail. If we want a more just and loving world, we have to be willing to see the whole picture through not just the lens of our own experiences, advantages, and beliefs.

🙏 Reflection: Where in your life are you being called to trade judgment for empathy and compassion, and truly see the systemic causes, not just the symptoms, of why people do what they do?