Lest Ye Be Judged and all that crap

All the blog posts I just read (none of them my regularly scheduled reading) made me cranky. It's fine to say "I try not to be judgemental", but what the hell does that even mean? The truth is you can't really go five minutes without judging. You can't get from bed to bathroom to breakfast without making judgements. You have to use your own best judgement (which can be really unfortunate in some cases). And people? Well, aren't people just annoyingly individual, and different from each other, and all with the opinions and everything? And if they differ enough from you in how they think, or eat, or talk to their kids, or watch reality tv instead of Lost, or treat people who don't believe in their god (sorrowful glances as opposed to, say, acid-throwing), well then, how do you not judge that? I actually once heard myself say the words "God I hate intolerant people." Great, huh? And some things I can say "totally respect your opinion, although I totally disagree with you", and sometimes I lie awake all night formulating brilliant, incisive arguments that will without a doubt change this poor misguided unfortunate's mind if I just get the chance to share them. Because who, in the name of all that is sane and good and has a delicious candy shell in the world, would want to be different from me? Don't they know everything would be better if they just tried to be more like me? Well, me and Kurt from Glee.

Comments

Pam said…
I strive to be more like you everyday. But if everyone were just as perfect as we are, where would the amusement be? I mean, who could I mock for leaving stickers on reflectors without prejudging them for the enormous house they live in anyway? We must simply smile on those who have it all wrong and forgive them.
March 11, 2010 at 7:30 PM
Mary Lynn said…
The internet makes me cranky sometimes, too. I think it all goes back to the point you made in a post a while back (and I'm totally gonna misquote you here...don't you HATE that?!?) about how there's nothing more scary that people who have absolutely certainty. Or sumpin' like that...

I don't actually understand people who judge other people all the time. I don't understand how people can, for instance, hear one tiny little snippet in the news about someone and, from that, develop opinions about who that person is, and how they should be living their lives differently. Do they realize how much they're embellishing the story? Do they care?
March 11, 2010 at 8:29 PM
Julie said…
i'm curious to know what blogs you were reading to provoke this rant.

worth while rant it is. i know i silently judge all of the time and vocally judge some of the time, but it's more on the side of "well of course she can afford fluvog shoes! look at the house she's living in!" petty stuff like that. the "how can that person live on the same planet as me if they don't believe in x, y, z..." I really don't get.
March 12, 2010 at 5:44 AM
SuziCate said…
I think we all internally judge at times, it's the ones who cut people down and try to hurt them about their differences that are not nice people. MY mama taught me that if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all...I try to be like that because I know personally how hurtful words and judgements can be. "Nuff said, except you know we all want to be like you!!!
March 12, 2010 at 8:08 AM
Amber Dusick said…
LOL, I have no tolerance for intolerant people either!
March 12, 2010 at 9:54 AM
Patti Murphy said…
Allison, I have to say that you suck at being judgmental.
March 12, 2010 at 11:19 AM
The Mayor! said…
LOL, love a good rant! And the fact that you DO read & support so many other blogs is exactly what makes you worthy of being recognized yourself....keep up the great entertainment, always a good read!! :-D
March 13, 2010 at 9:41 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Super Dark Times

Image
 To my American friends, I'm sorry. Not in any kind of distanced, pitying, smug way, because I believe we are headed in a similar direction here in Canada, and I am sad and sick at heart. I told myself I wasn't hoping for the other outcome because I was afraid to, but I realize that I absolutely was, because I was not prepared for how bad this would feel.  Some random thoughts I am having about the whole thing. 1. I'm going to try not to hate anyone. For a while at least. I am totally cool with anyone else hating people that helped this happen. A lot of them did it out of hate. Some did it out of ignorance. Some are struggling and desperate and thought this was a solution. I know that's not an excuse, but it makes me think of when I read The Drowned and the Saved by Primo Levi. He said that he didn't feel like he could judge people who betrayed their fellow Jews for favours from their captors, because he was never given the opportunity and if he had he couldn't ...
Read more

Books Read in 2021: Four-Star YA Horror

Image
I am pretty well ensconced in the January doldrums. We are in a deep freeze, and after the major snow dump on Monday I never catch it snowing, and yet there are a few centimetres on the driveway by every evening. I'm happy with my decision not to take any office shifts for a few weeks - it's incredibly stressful, will only be more so now that people are pissed that we're not supposed to be reporting Covid cases, and I don't even get paid my regular library rate. But it does sort of make the days run together. I try to walk Lucy, but it's so cold she starts dancing around lifting up one paw after the other for me to warm with my mittens. We've tried paw covers but haven't found any that fit. So I walk her around the block and then bring her home and keep walking. It's been cold but not very windy, so walking is quite pleasant (I'm finally not too warm!)  I am rewatching The Golden Girls, which I don't think I ever watched all the way through befor...
Read more

I'm Sick

 Seriously you guys, I am SO SICK, and I have been stupidly engaging in presenteeism even though I am STRONGLY DISAPPROVING when other people do it. It's not because I think I owe anything to the school board (oh my goodness I do not). It's not because I have delusions of grandeur about how important my job is - wait, maybe I do, because at some of my schools my classes have already missed two weeks of library because of EQAO (which necessitated students writing exams in the library), and it's almost the end of the year, which means most of the librarians are closing the library to circulation soon if not now, and I really didn't want to make them miss one of the last library periods.  Also, and I am putting myself out there so try to be kind, I have realized that there is a dumb little part of people-pleasing oldest-child self that always suspects that if I call in sick people think I'm faking, so it's a tiny bit gratifying to go in and have people say oh my GO...
Read more