Losing my friends

Broom wants me to lose all the friends I have left. Or she wouldn’t have tagged me with this vile and criminal tag. She insists I do it.

And to be honest – everyone is. All of us. We form opinions about what is right or cool or acceptable and when someone or something does or does not fall into that opinion, we judge. We may not say it or show it, but we think it.

Before I begin, let me say this – loud and clear. I do judge people. I am shamefully and acutely aware of my reactions. I feel sorry for letting my own inadequacies reflect in my judgment of others. Some of these judgments aren’t as relevant now. The other thing is, I find it the easiest to judge people who are between the ages of 21 and 35.

1. I judge women who don’t earn money and rely on their parents or their husbands. Especially if they are post graduates and don’t have children. I do realize that taking care of a household is an arduous chore, and is a lot of work. But sometimes, my hypocrisy gets the better of me.

2. I judge people who don’t type fast. (I really can’t explain this.) It probably has more to do with my impatience.

3. I judge men when they sit in their living rooms, when guests are over for dinner, while the women appear to be slaving over the stove, or setting the table. I judge the women for looking at me expectantly to help them.

4. I judge people who read chicklit, even though I hide my stash of chicklit, or pretend that it’s actually profound writing disguised as chicklit.

5. I judge mothers for bringing along bawling children on flights, and mutter that they should drug children on flights. I then feel like dirt, when my father says something like “Poor child, maybe her ears are hurting.”. Or when my mother reminds me that I never let anyone in the entire compartment sleep when they used to travel to Madras on trains. I also feel awful for judging the mothers by a higher standard than the fathers.

6. I judge very thin people for being obsessive about their looks. It’s awful I know. Many of them may not even want to be thin. God knows, I am not in the same boat.

7. I judge women who call their husbands every ten minutes to let them know where they are. In fact I assume that they’re calling their husbands, when they could be having a perfectly naughty conversation with another friend.

8. I judge people who don’t like dogs, because I think they have no idea what love or companionship is all about.

9. I judge people who are younger siblings because I assume they’ve had an easier ride than the elder ones.

10. I judge people when they don’t know what a blog is.

11. I judge Desis who say they like any other cuisine other than Indian the best. I think they’re trying to put on a “am so cool and global” act. I also judge Desis who pick up foreign accents in less than three years of having lived abroad.

12. I judge parents who buy expensive clothes and gadgets for their children, because I feel like they’re buying a relationship, and that they don’t have the time or inclination to actually be with their children.

I am crossing my fingers, and hoping my friends realize that I am not evil. That I am just opinionated sometimes. 😦

PS – I also judge “judgmental people”.

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