Happy Ash Wednesday

I walked into my Wednesday Watering Hole in San Francisco, I had an hour to kill before class and was thrilled to catch up with Dawnie before class.  There was a conference at the hotel so the hotel's bar was jam-packed.  Ew.  No thank you.  So I walked across the street to the Irish Pub, a Guinness is always welcome.  It was also super packed but Dawnie had joined me by this point, I can face a huge crowd with a friend.  A guy was leaving at the bar so I sat and she stood at the corner of the bar.  We ordered our drinks and caught up on life.I made friends with the seemingly kid bartender by offering him one of the chocolate truffles I had made last night.  He was very appreciative and complimentary.On our way out of the bar, as we stood waiting for the cross walk to turn, a man made a cross motion over his forehead and told me, "you're not supposed to drink today."Apparently this person had seen me exit the bar and saw the ashes on my forehead."Excuse me?" I said."You're not supposed to drink alcohol today, it's Ash Wednesday." He made the motion of the cross over his forehead and this time pointed to my forehead.  He began to count off on his hand, "You're also not supposed to eat meat, eat sweets...""Are you God?" I asked him."No.""Thank you." I said."What?""I'll let God tell me what I can and cannot do.""He doesn't talk to me." This man said."Well, I'm happy with my relationship with God." I responded."You can't pick and choose or just be in the middle. I'd like to just hang out in the middle, too." He said."Well then go ahead and do that." I saidLuckily the cross walk light turned to green and we began to cross.  As we walked away, I heard him yell after me "I hope you.."Also luckily, I, 1. did not hear what he said and 2. was already halfway through the cross walk because this individual irritated me to no end.In fact, it is rather timely that this happened today because as I sat in mass today, listening to the priest's homily, I pondered the notion of hypocrisy.  I think humans are hypocritical by nature--not because we are innately bad, but because how we are supposed to behave is socially imposed behavior that is not natural, I think.  What upsets me is not that someone is a hypocrite, I concluded today sitting in mass, but that someone would judge me for trying to figure out my own life and decisions.  We are all navigating life and trying to do the best we can.I thought about my dear friend who is a priest and the least judgmental person I know.  While he is a total gossip, he would never judge a person for their behavior or choices.  He counsels when sought for counseling.  He gives his opinion when solicited or among trusted friends.  However, I am certain he would never stop somebody on the street and give his opinion about the choices the other person was making.Not to mention the fact that it is none of your business, you are also jumping to conclusions about the other persons life.  How do you know, dear friend, that I was even drinking alcohol in the bar?  Maybe I just ate a meal there.  How do you know that the ashes on my forehead are not just smeared makeup?