There’s been a lot of press recently about Joe Biden’s inappropriate touching of women, and a lot of predictable commentary from typical sources – like the #metoo movement going too far, or how Biden’s behavior demonstrates that democrats are no different from Trump (shoulder rubs being equivalent to pussy grabs, don’t you know?).

I’m no Joe Biden fan, but this seems to be a tempest in a teapot. There are larger lessons that we can glean from this affair. Biden himself touched on these larger lessons in the video linked to above – that we need to be aware of what others regard as their personal space and that we need to actually listen to others, specifically women. While this particular affair involves physical proximity we could expand that theme to include all of our daily actions. In short, this world could use a lot more kindness, and a large part of being kind is being aware of others and valuing them.

Just think of how too many of us carelessly mess up the environment, disturb others and are thoughtlessly cruel. And how all of us bemoan the world we live in. It’s this larger lesson that I regard as important, not how Joe smelled somebody’s hair.