A Rambling I Will Go

D'ya ever wonder why we do certain things the way we do them? And why we place such importance on doing things a certain way?

Doug and I always shop at the same grocery store. Partly because we are creatures of habit, partly because it's the closest store to our house but mostly because we have finally figured out where everything is in that store so why go somewhere we have to wander the aisles again when we're out of fig newtons or powdered mustard?

The other day I needed to do groceries on the way home but was coming from another city so it was just easier to stop en route - at a different store (gasp!). I needed about 10 things. It took me about 30 minutes to find them all. Worst part was that all the labels were different. The rice crackers were a different brand. So was the yogurt. I bought everything we needed but secretly wondered if it would taste as good.

Guess what?

It tasted fine. Of course it did. In fact, in a blind taste test, I guarantee that I could not distinguish between PC yogurt and whatever the hell I bought at the store that had me all turned around looking for the dairy section.

Doing something a certain way is important to me. If I notice someone doing something and, if they do it differently than I do, I get kinda freaked out because I want to fix them (like I can actually fix people) so they do it right.

But you know what?

Whether you put cheese on your pizza first and then pile toppings on top or you put toppings on first and then cover in cheese - it still tastes the same. Whether you put your running belt under or over your running jacket really doesn't matter either. Not really. Even though it feels like it does in my head.

And just as critical to remember: if I think something is important (say turning off lights when I'm not in a room or not checking my phone when I'm in a meeting) it doesn't mean that someone who leaves the light on or checks their phone is a bad person. Even though my brain tells me that it's BAD!

It's so easy to impose our own morals and even our own habits on other people and then judge them when they don't live up to these artificially imposed expectations. I mean it's not like it's against the law to leave the light on or check your phone. Just against my moral code.

And who the hell am I to judge someone else anyway?

Unless of course they are standing behind me in line at Tim Hortons and start going on about all the immigrants in Canada (while glaring at the group of Asian students happily chatting away at their table). Going on about how 'those people' have more rights than Canadians do and how they are taking over the country. How we, as real Canadians, end up behind the 8 ball because of people like 'them'. Gosh, we can't even go for coffee anymore without seeing 'them' - it's just horrible.

Then I feel that I might, just maybe, have the right to judge him as a wee bit of an asshole. I'll add the 'wee bit' part in case there are other issues at play that I'm not aware of...like maybe his family was killed by a bunch of foreigners jacked up on Tim Hortons coffee. Or he was ambushed in the parking lot by immigrants who wanted his double double...

And that, my friends, was a very rambling, roundabout way of telling everyone that I met a very bigoted man in Tim Hortons today...and didn't kill him.