This story is a witty illustration of how perspective and bias warp judgment. Two women casually compare the extravagant gifts their husbands gave: a mansion, a Cadillac, and a diamond bracelet. One woman brags; the other responds with “Well, isn’t that nice?” — polite on the surface but dripping with passive disapproval.
The tension deepens when they shift to talking about their children’s marriages. The mother praises her daughter’s pampered lifestyle—breakfast in bed, leisurely days—as proof that her daughter married an ideal spouse. Yet that same exact behavior in her son’s wife is viewed as laziness and entitlement. The difference in judgment lies only in who is being served, not in the actions themselves.
Through its simplicity, the story exposes a pervasive double standard: identical behaviors are praised when benefiting the in‑group and condemned when benefitting the out‑group. It reveals how deeply people’s relationships and loyalties color moral judgments—and how cleverly people rationalize treating “ours” differently.
