Did you have to read that title twice? Yeah, you read it right. It's time to stop pointing fingers. From the comfort of our moral superiority, it feels great to label someone as fake, shady or something negative. As long as you're the one pointing, there's nothing to worry about. Name-calling is easy, but what’s difficult is introspection and calling yourself out for your wrongs.
How many fake people do you know that openly call themselves fake? None probably. Not many would label themselves as fake, racist, sexist or xenophobic, simply because people, many times, are blind to their own faults. Instead, we justify our actions to feel more comfortable with ourselves because it is easier to rationalize our behavior than to change it. Yes, being fake sucks, but it’s something we can all address and change.
Proceed with caution, it’s about to get real.
1. You always ask your friends to pay you back.
Granted, we’re all a little broke sometimes, but if you can’t let that $2.49 slide, you’re either an extreme cheapskate (Are those Louis Vuitton's you got on?) or you just suck.
2. You don’t take the advice you give.
Don’t talk to me about abstinence when your weeknights are jam -acked. Both you and your friend could be making the same mistake, but for some strange reason, it's okay when you do it. You could even write an entire essay on why you're right and they're wrong.
3. You’re always involved in drama.
Yet you claim to hate it. Hmmm...suspicious.
4. You can’t take “No” for an answer.
The world cannot revolve around your desires. Most of the time, "no" is nothing personal and just something you must deal with. Unless you like losing friends.
5. You always want to talk about yourself.
Haven’t you noticed your friends have changed the subject 15 times already? Let it rest, man.
6. You never remember anything your friends tell you.
Do you ever just look at someone talk and not hear a single word they say? Understandable. If this is you most of the time when your friend talks, there’s something wrong there.
7. You act different when someone else is around.
C’mon, don’t switch up on your buddy just because the rich kid walked by.
8. You judge everyone.
Except yourself, because you’re perfect and how could the world not see it?
Maybe this entire list is you. Maybe only some of it is. Or maybe, just maybe, none of this applied to you. In that case, you're a Godsend, straight down from heaven, gracing us with your presence. Or you’re just a liar, but you can go ahead and decide that. No one is perfect, and we all have our faults. However, what's noble about humanity is that we are constantly taking action to correct our flaws. Despite the title of this article, no one is entirely fake. The best we can all do is work on the flaws we see and minimize them as much as possible. To fix something, we must first see because we can't fix what we don't detect as broken. You can be fake to your friends all you want, but if you cannot see the fault in your actions, the only person you are truly being fake with is yourself. And that is probably the worst fate of all.