Are we to judge ?

You know often, when we see a person clad smartly walking down the street , we think to ourselves, " He must be doing well " or " I think he's a rich man" or " I can't wait to see what he drives!".

On the contrary , when we see a beggar wandering around , barely covering their body with enough cloth , our first reactions are " Ew....... I wonder how he smells like " or " He better not come near me" or " Gosh , who is he ? " . Those reactions are very natural , very human. We judge what we see. As simple as that. First , we look , then the possibilities wrestle in our minds and we come out with conclusions about what we perceive of other people.

I was in a mamak stall one day , alone. Having a cup of teh tarik while enjoying the evening breeze. As I was sipping my hot cup of teh tarik, a man of small stature walked pass me and sat right in front of me , the opposite table. The first thing that ran through my mind , ' Is he Chinese , Indian , Malay or some Vietnamese ? " He didn't have a very distinct feature that enable me to distinguish. And then , he ordered something from the mamak stall worker , and again I stretched my ears forth to hear his accent. But he was too soft. "Oh well ..... Shouldn't I mind my own business ? " I thought.

Minutes passed.........

Another guy , his friend appeared. Now, his friend has the same small frame. He sat down , mumbled something foreign , and laughed discreetly. That's interesting. Another unidentified race. I took out my phone , pretended to sms and peeped at them while they were chatting. The man who came later , looked pretty decent.

His shirt had a blue printed italic font " Jesus ". " Cool ! " I thought , he must be Christian. My hopes were soaring high and I even thought of making friends with them. Until , he lifted up his shirt to reveal a huge metal skull belt he was wearing around his waist . Yeah , how oxymoron. I gave him the benefit of doubt. He reached out in his pocket and took out a pack of cigarettes and began his puffing.

Maybe he is not Christian after all , but wait. Maybe he is a Christian but fell away? Or he might be an unborn Christian ? Or maybe he IS a Christian ?

I finished my cup of tea and walked away.