The Final Judgment

One of Jay's frequent critiques of me is that I'm too judgmental about people.  Whenever he says that to me, I always think to myself that it's awfully judgmental of him to even tell me that.

Of course, I don't say that to him. That's because he's right.  I am too judgmental.  It's just how I go through life.  I form quick opinions of people.  I look at you, assess your clothes, your hair, your height and weight, the people you're with, and immediately jump to a conclusion.  Notice that I haven't said anything about talking to you before I form that opinion.  God forbit I do that.  That would actually take some effort on my part and I don't have time for that.

I'm never more aware of this then when I'm flying.  Let me give you three examples from today.

• It started in the security line on my outbound flight.  The guy in front of me couldn't decide whether he needed to keep his boarding pass with him while he went through the TSA scanner.  First, he had it in his hand.  Then, he put it in his bag, only to take it out once more.  He headed over the scanner only to stop once more, turn around, and frantically grab his bag just before it went through the conveyor bag x-ray.  He pulled his bag back out, grabbed his boarding pass, and -- finally -- went through the scanner.  "Indecisive time-waster," I told myself.
• On the return flight, I had another security line experience.  There was a large multi-generational family in front of me.  When they got to the checkpoint where you're asked for your boarding pass and your photo ID, several of the family members presented them.  The rest of the family members, it turns out, were just in the security line hanging out with them.  So, there I was, ready to present my boarding pass and photo ID but I couldn't move.  I had to wait while the family in front of me (all thirteen of them -- I counted) kissed, hugged, and said their good-bye's, one by one.  It was like the Walton's.  "Good Lord, they're inconsiderate," I told myself as I stood there waiting.
• When I got to the gate, I had just enough time to survey the crowd and see who would be flying back to Baltimore with me.  Only one person really stood out.  It was the businesswoman on her cell phone.  She wasn't talking too loudly, I'll give her that.  But, wasn't she a little too old to be wearing a skirt that short?

On the flight, I finished my work with about 15 minutes left in the air.  Unfortunately, I didn't have anything to read.  Bummer.  So, I had no other alternative than to eavesdrop on the two women seated in the row across from me.  God would forgive me for that.

These two women seemed like good friends.  They seemed to be having a very nice time together.  They'd been talking and laughing together throughout the flight.  But, they'd been doing so pretty quietly so I really had to strain to hear what they were saying.  Imagine my surprise when I learned that they were strangers who'd never met before the flight.  One lived in Baltimore and the other lived in DC.  At the end of the flight, as we taxied to the gate, they exchanged cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses and made a date for dinner.

"Sure they will," I thought to myself smugly.  "They'll never actually get together."  Then I caught myself.  Why did I need to tell myself that?  What good did it do me?  I think I need to figure that one out.  I owe it to Jay.