What famine?

It is funny really how we can read a passage over and over again and not see all the words.  I am not talking about the simple words, of, and, it, so, a, the; these word are often missed as we read over them.  I am talking about significant words.

I was reading about the story of the prodigal son over at Jesus Creed and how many people miss the famine in the story!  I thought what famine?  So I went and looked it up to see if it were true and it was! 

14After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.

It is interesting how we focus on the story that we think is there in the text and not the story that is really there. Scot puts this down to our cultural views coloring how we read the story.

Americans 100% of them heard the part about the son squandering his money.
Americans 6% observed that there was a famine.

Russians 34% mentioned the squandering while 84% heard the part about the famine.

Is it wrong to read this story so differently?  What is the real meaning?

For me as I read the story again I realised that the prodigal was actually not as wasteful as we think, he had not used all his wealth wisely but what had brought him to his knees was the famine on the land and not just his selfish desire to have better conditions.  This then brings the older son's reaction into better perspective, and thus why the story is more about his response to his brother than the prodigal himself. 

How to we judge others?  How do we treat others?  Do we assume they are inept and ignorant people who have wasted their opportunities?  or do we listen and learn what has been their journey to this point in life and then rejoice at their return to the family?