Surprises.

I like to be surprised by people. Not like a surprise birthday party, or a snake in a can kind of surprise - but to see someone do something you never would have expected them to do. Whether it's good or bad, big or little, I like to be surprised by people. I think it keeps me fresh, keeps me from thinking I have people figured out, and keeps me honest.

I have this friend, I'll keep this somewhat ambiguous for his sake - but I'm sure you'll figure out who it is if you know the story. When we were in high school he was always doing ridiculous stuff, like stealing the yard narc's golf cart and crashing it into a tree. When we got older he would always want to go up into the hills and start a bon-fire and throw aerosol cans in it, I mean - it was awesome to see them explode. As the years went by and I found myself working in jobs that carried great responsibility I grew away from that - but he didn't. I remember him starting to hang out with people that were years younger than us and thinking that he was doing it just to have people on his same maturity level to do crazy things with. Then he got his girlfriend pregnant.

Honestly, when he first told me this I was kind of bummed. I assumed that he would continue down his path of immaturity and not be a good father - the he surprised me. I have never seen someone turn things around so fast, he buckled down at work, saved money, got married, and has done nothing since but do everything he can to be the best husband, father, man that he can be - and nothing stokes me out more.

See, no matter how hard I try, I can't help but think I've got things figured out at times, but in reality - I think I have very little figured out. I wish there was some way that I could apply this into my everyday life, when I meet a homeless person, when I talk to the cashier at the grocery store, when I talk to people I've known for years. Cause while I like being surprised, I think hoping for the best consistently would be a much better way of going about things.

I mean, what would the world be like if everyone stopped jumping to conclusions about people? If we stopped assuming that asians were bad drivers and middle-eastern looking people were terrorists, or that homeless people would just buy alcohol with the money we give them - how would things change?

See, I love being surprised - but I think the world would be a much better place if I stopped jumping to conclusions.