people are people

People.


Do we have to?


Cuz honestly I'd rather pass.


I mean, people are lovely and all. They're, ya know, human and fallible. Warm. Unpredictable. Fascinating creatures.

But really how unpleasant they are in the end. And in the beginning.


And the middle.


I don't mean you, of course, dear readers. Dear friends, family, and loved ones. You don't count as people.


Nothing personal. In the dictionary sense of the word, you are in fact "people." But in the Zen Imbecile sense of the word, this label does not apply. In the Zen Imbecile Compendiumm of Neuroses and Related Disorders, the label "people" applies to vast majority of human beings who, if they have thoughts about us at all, have at least a 50-50 chance of thinking 50% or more unpleasant ones.


People include:


* drivers
* cashiers & other retail personnel
* various passersby
* citizens of foreign nations
* fellow travelers in said foreign nations
* gym, yoga, and/or running trail practicioners
* the homeless
* government employees & politicians

In other words, these are human beings with whom we typically spend almost no time who, if they think any thing about us at all, are likely to think pleasant ones based solely on our appearance or on something completely beyond our control like a facial expression we make that reminds them of their grandmother. Thankfully, whatever impression we do make is short-lived because we spend a maximum of an hour or two with most "people" and more often than not our exchanges with them last five minutes or less.

Phew!

That is not to say that I believe the vast majority of "people" are unpleasant, in and of themselves. No, indeed, "people" being what they are, they are warm, fallible, etc etc.

But I've intentionally left out one category of "people" who qualify as prolonged-contact "people" - neighbors.