Because It Needs To Be Said

Guilty as charged.

I'm a judgmental person, I always have been and I always will be.

I judge you when you use poor grammar. I judge you when you use 'u' and 'lolz' and 'wut' in texts and facebook status updates. I judge you based on the books you choose to read, the clothes you choose to wear, the people you take as friends. I judge you based on your hair style, your sense of humor (or lack thereof), the classes you choose to take. I judge you according to who you find 'hot', who you find 'too serious', and who you find 'stuck up'.

I judge people, and guess what? So do you.

You judged this post as interesting enough to keep reading thus far. You judged me as smart, nice, funny, shy, stupid, or "mad weird bro." You judged your professors as 'not knowing how to teach'. You judged that kid snoring in the back row of lecture as a nuisance or an 'idiot'. You judged Justin Bieber. You judged Edward Cullen. You judged Miley Cyrus. Nah, I think we can all agree no one likes her, right?

You judged Hermione Granger and you judged Draco Malfoy.

You judged so-and-so as a liar, and you judged so-and-so as a sweet heart. You judged your significant other as being suitable for you. You judged them as being understanding, loving, caring, and being 'the one'.

The thing is that there is no right or wrong judgment. I might judge 'Jersey Shore' as being the most stoopit show ever, and you might judge it as fist-pumping-good. I might judge Coldplay as being a monotonous and boring band, and you might judge it as amazing.

It’s the judgments that we make on a day-to-day basis that make us who we are, and it makes the world around us what it is, to us. Everything has a little 'profile' in our mind, and our judgments simply add to that profile, or edit some of the things already there. For instance, my initial judgment on Person A might be that he's quite, seems smart, and has a nice smile. Ten minutes later, Person A opens his mouth and my judgment is writing 'JERK, PERVERT, POTTY MOUTH, REALLY OBNOXIOUS LAUGH' on his 'profile'.

I'm sick and tired of people saying, "Don't judge me," or, "Don't worry, I won't judge you."

Because I will, and you will too, and now it's out in the open.

A Minute and a Half

It was a Friday night, unusually chilly for April. Four girls made their way across campus, one skipping ahead with a grin, her slim figure throwing her dancing shadow across the cement pavement. She turned around occasionally, waiting for her companions to catch up, challenging them to a race to the car. A few feet behind her was another girl, this one with olive skin, and she smiled as she shook her head at the grinning girl's teasing remarks. Behind her were the last two companions, their heads huddled close as they spoke in whispers. The shorter of the two had moonlit-skin, and it was the tallest of the girls that took up the challenge to a race.

So they raced to the white Nissan that belonged to the tallest of the girls.

The four girls all lived in the same town, streets apart, but farther in life. The tallest of the girls slid behind the steering wheel, and the girl with the moonlit-skin took shot gun; and that left the girl with the grin and the olive-skinned girl in the backseat.

And just like that, four almost-strangers became close for a minute and a half.

They talked about boys, about life, about what they heard through the grape vine; they wrote their names on the windows, and sang along to the songs on the radio, even the ones they didn't know the lyrics to. Stories were told, secrets were spilled, confessions were made.

Five months later and I'm starting to realize, maybe it's better to keep some people as almost-strangers. And maybe a minute and a half is a minute and a half too long.