Labels: Easy vs. Hard

I have jettisoned the iPad for blogging plan. Last week, it made sense but not now. I do use the iPad for my occasional freelance writing gigs. I like the informal riffing on it. Like a harmonica. I feel less pressure this way.  Otherwise I would get all mental.

Thus, I have returned to the command center lap top upstairs in the U.S.S. Bierkergaard with the large screen monitor which supplanted the lap top screen that has an ever increasing blob of burned-out pixels. I also secured my wayward seat cushion on top of the wooden chair seat with a wife beater and shoe laces. So, the cushion no longer slips around. It is the small things that make a difference. 

So, I went to bottle my Russian Mexican Imperial Milk Chocolate Morita Pepper Stout yesterday and the the hydrometer showed that it is not ready. I can ignore the data but then should gird myself for exploding glass bottles. It will take another week or so from what I can tell.

To get ready to bottle however, I had to prepare the soldiers for their duty. When I had brewed my Rye Beers, my bottle collection was at low ebb so I had to use bottles where the labels held onto the glass tenaciously and wouldn't come off with water soaking. I am hesitant to use harsher chemicals to free the labels from the glue and bottles' surly bonds. My thoughts are that there would be residual chemicals that may be difficult to clean out entirely. Plus, the actual process of removal the labels would be harsh, require gloves and glasses, and etc.

Now I have been saving bottles for a while and was looking to rid myself of these labeled bottles and use bottles that released their labels with a little water soak. As far as I can tell, the bottle quality is no different between the recalcitrant labeled bottles and the easier label removal bottles. I thought maybe the label stuckness reflected some sturdiness in the glass. Not as far as I can surmise. So, I chucked all of the labeled bottles and then organized the remaining into regiments for the upcoming campaign.

That got me thinking how labels get in the way in how we view people. The label is an easy way to classify people and it diminishes how complex we are. We may not agree with the beliefs of others and I think that is legit. Yet, I wonder if we took the time to get beyond the label (and maybe not even define ourselves by a label) it might help us understand why people have come to believe what they do. 

Maybe that is why Jesus warns us about judgment. We assume that if we can see the label we can see the person. We give ourselves far too much credit in our prescience in judging others. If we listen and learn we may still disagree but it won't be because the label got in the way. The one that we have such a hard time removing.