People

People are awesome.

People always talk about people doing bad things, people being annoying, people being mean; sometimes, though, they talk about people doing nice things, people being nice, people being friendly, people doing other people favors. Well, whatever your particular opinion is, imagine what your daily life or world would be without people.

My goodness! Wouldn't it be so much less exciting? In fact, I'm a big proponent of the idea that at least half the reason why we wake up in the morning is to witness the fascinating antics of others as they play out during the day.

I could probably go into the psychology of it all, but think about it in the simplest of terms: think about what compels you to stop and talk to your friends in the hallway in the passing time from one period to the next during the school day. The risk you're putting yourself at - missing class, getting reprimanded by your teacher or administrators, etc. - is, independent opinions aside, quite a risk compared to the generally inconsequential activity of stopping your walk to talk to your friends about whatever pops into your mind. Granted, some conversations matter more than the risks they cause you to take - say, choosing to catch the next bus instead of the one coming now in order to catch up with a long-lost friend you just ran into at the bus station.

But such circumstances aren't the norm, at least on a daily basis. Thus, the only other possible explanation is that there's something genuinely compelling or otherwise attractive about people that draws us to them and leads us to minimize the priority of our responsibilities, such as going to class and getting there on time. So, in the end, our opinions about people - however derogatory or negative - are in fact the greatest tributes to them that we could possibly carry out.