Judgment

Man, this chick at the nail shop was getting on my last freaking nerves yesterday. (My nails look great, by the way.) Anyway, this chick was on her cell phone the entire time she was getting her nails done two seats over from me. The entire time. One phone call after another. I'm sure the man doing her nails hated her at the time. And I hated her. I mean, I HATED HER. I wanted to scream, Do you know how inappropriate you're being?! I don't want to hear your private conversations!! They're called private for a reason! Shut up!!!!!!!!!!

And she wasn't talking about anything. Nothing. "Whatchu been doing today?" "I'm getting my nails done." "Yeah girl, she crazy." That kinda nothing. Nothing. So, it could have waited. And then there was the one that pushed my sanity over the edge: "Hold on, I got another call." ARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!

I hated her ghetto bunny ass with a passion. I wanted to do physical harm to her. How could one person -- one ADULT person -- be so clueless? How could a grown woman not know any better? How could she think it was somehow okay to talk in public on a cell phone as if she were in her own private space bubble? How could this chick be so rude, so inconsiderate, so repulsively oblivious?

A few minutes later I sat at the drying-light-machine-cancer-causing thingy. And, as fate would have it, she sat directly across from me. Of course she did. I was seething. Hating her. Judging her. Until she said it: "Your nails look pretty. That's a pretty color." I freakin' melted. She was so kind and open and... here it comes... nice. Just that one moment of kindness from her and I melted. One compliment was all it took, and I stopped hating her. I felt so bad that I had harbored such resentment in the first place. She was instantly and completely a real human being to me. With real concerns. She knew her mom would be mad because she was twenty minutes late getting home and she hoped her nails were dry enough because she really had to run. Her boyfriend thinks she's boring for always getting the same color polish. She would be back in two weeks.

I'll be back in two weeks also. Maybe I'll see her again. Maybe I won't be so quick to judge her. Maybe I'll even have to take a phone call or two.

Nah. What am I saying? I'm still better than her.

- Inda