Judge much?

“Stop being so judgmental.”

 Says someone to someone else. Every second of every day.

 Waaaaait. Aren’t they being judgmental by calling out the other personal for being judgmental?  

 We live and breathe judgment. Many (all?) of our institutions are, in one way or another, based on or dependent on people being judgmental. Consider science, medicine, law, finance, education, sports, politics. Judgmental can mean being critical and nitpicky, disapproving and hurtful. But it can also mean being frank, candid, and honest.  It might not be what you want to hear, but it may be what you need to hear. The doctor who judges your sedentary and stressful life. The writing coach who judges your overwrought prose. I am paid to be judgmental.

 I’ve been thinking about this judgment thing a lot lately as I read comments on the American Pilgrims on the Camino 41.2K-member Facebook page. There is endless chatter about brands of hiking boots, and the optimal liter size and kilo weight of backpacks, and whether to book ahead, and, of course, the all-important poles v no poles question. There are proud declarations of having completed the trek. There are wistful posts about wanting to walk someday.

 But loud and clear and incessantly, there is a debate about what constitutes The True Camino Experience, what makes for The True Pilgrim. Is it a person who walks the entire distance, carrying all they need on their back, not planning ahead, finding beds in humble albergues along the way? What of those who walk only the last 100 kilometers, or who alternately walk and then hop on a bus or call a taxi to advance to the next town? Is it okay—are they legit pilgrims—if they do this because they are elderly or injured or have only limited time?

What if they do this because they are inexperienced or fearful? Is that okay? What if they do this just because they don’t want to inconvenience themselves? What of those who pack luggage rather than a backpack, and have a company transport the luggage from private accommodation to private accommodation. That’s not legit, is it? They are vacationers not pilgrims! How dare they.

The more-Pilgrim-than-thou folks judge the It’s-my-Camino-and-I’ll-do-it-my-way folks, who then judge the more-Pilgrim-than-thou folks for judging them.

 !Ay! amigas y amigos. The debate is one big, endless snark-fest. The people who engage in it are (be prepared for a litany of judgmental words): petty, small-minded, ill-tempered, privileged, sanctimonious, ungenerous, curmudgeonly, holier-than-thou. And they have too much time on their hands. Should I encounter them on my next Camino. I shall judge them harshly.

 Waiting for your judgy comments! Go for it.