On the one hand, my colleague finds a printout of Borges's essay, "The Library of Babel", on my desk, and says, this cannot be, there's no such thing as the library of Babel, and who is this Borges? Moment of genuine surprise - surely everyone knows of Borges, even non-faffy people? Well, I say, he's this South American short story writer and essayist...also a poet...very good. Er, and quite famous. My colleague is dubious.
And on the other hand, walking back with my brother today, we pass by someone smoking and my brother says, people who smoke are stupid. He divides smokers into smart and stupid. People who don't start smoking at all - smart. People who do start - stupid. People who start and then stop - smart (well first stupid and then smart). People who start and don't stop - stupid. Well (I say feebly) they get hooked and then they can't help it... He amends his categorisation of the world. People who start smoking and know they should but can't stop - weak. People who start smoking and don't know they should stop - stupid. That's a very harsh moral universe you live in, I say.
Was/Am I that bad? We're awfully judgemental people, aren't we?