A judge’s scale has two pans because there are always two sides. Hear both before you decide.

Two pans exist because one side of a story weighs nothing on its own. Anybody telling you about a fight is giving you their account in good faith and from one position, and the version that reaches you has already been simplified by the telling. Hearing the second account is not disloyalty. It is the only way to find out what actually happened.

When somebody hands you a story about a third person this week, hold off on the verdict. Ask one question that would complicate it, and notice how often that changes the shape of the thing.