cre8Buzz Blog

Warning: I know what inspired this little diatribe but I’m not sure if I have a point. We’ll see!

Why do people rush to judge? Again and again and again? Can we not help but see things and immediately label them? Is it unconscious? Is it human nature? Is it just a lazy mental reaction?

We at Cre8buzz face this daily, when we hear statements like:
“Oh, just what we need, another social networking site”

or

“We don’t invest in social networks”

or

“So, it’s another MySpace?”

Grrrrrrrrrr.

In fact, we’ve made a conscious effort to not call ourselves a social network lately. It just brings up too many judgments - judgments that are rarely useful for us. I’m sure others face this all the time. I know, I know, the best thing to do is ignore it but it can be a bit frustrating.

I was inspired to write this little rant by a dog. Yes, a dog. Her name is Lola and she is a young, sweet, and sometimes crazy Vizla. A close friend owns her and I have spent a bunch of time with her, on walks, at the dog park, and at her home. Her breed is described in Wikipedia as:

The Hungarian Vizsla (pronounced approximately VEEZH-luh (zh as in vision)), is a dog breed originating in Hungary. Vizslas are known as excellent hunting dogs, and also have a level personality making them suited for families

The Vizsla is a medium-sized hunting dog of distinguished appearance and bearing. Robust but rather lightly built, they are lean dogs, have defined muscles

The Vizsla thrives on attention, exercise, and interaction. It is highly intelligent, and enjoys being challenged and stimulated, both mentally and physically. Vizslas are very gentle dogs that are great around children.

Lola was adopted this spring and her past is unknown. She’s thin but extremely energetic, VERY active and maybe the fastest dog I’ve ever seen. She looks like this:

Did I mention that she is thin? Lola eats. She eats all the time. However, you can see her ribs. You can also see her muscles (I wish I were so ripped!) So what inevitably happens? People think she is not fed well. Here’s the scene, played out almost daily:

Lola spends 20 minutes running non-stop at the dog park. She chases other dogs, sniffs, gets into things, plays fetch, and greets each person and dog. She never is out of breath and looks like the dictionary picture of happy (Another wish: If I could bottle up her happiness and sell it as a drug, I’d never have to work again.)

Inevitably, she greets someone whose first reaction is to say, out loud, something like:

“Oh, you are so thin. Don’t your owners feed you?

Or

“Oh my, you need to eat”

Or, if they see me:

“She’s so thin. Doesn’t she eat?”

Grrrrrr again. I know, I know, most people are well-intentioned, but it’s annoying. Don’t they see her energy level? Her happiness? Her muscles? Do people just speak to speak?

Sidenote: I imagine people who are really tall get REALLY sick of hearing “you’re awfully tall” or, worse, “You must have played basketball”

Sometimes I admire people who see the world in a very black and white fashion. They are able to assess things quickly, through their lenses, and have an immediate opinion on the matter. In many cases, these opinions are based in principle or faith and offer a useful compass to navigate this crazy world. In other cases, I argue that we form our opinions quickly based on our past experiences or without thinking at all.  Those judgements can be limiting, I’m sure.  And definitely annoying sometimes.

So I, for one, vow to be better about that. I promise to limit my judgements and, when I make them, try to catch myself and challenge them. Especially before I speak!

In addition, let me again thank all the ‘Buzzsters who gave us a shot without rushing to judge us as just another social network. If you were here, Lola would jump on you and kiss you!

-Keith