I often believe I have a pretty good judge of character when it comes to people though I would never say it to that individual’s face because that would be judging people. I can typically read an individual like a book by observing that person’s behavior or through interacting with this person. You see, the action, speech, and appearance of a person can say a lot about that person.

Shortly after I came home from China, after interacting with the students living in our basement, one night after dinner, I asked my mom, “He doesn’t do chores at home, does he?”

“How did you know?” I told her my observation – spaghetti arms and his inability to actually clean the dishes. “What more can you tell me about both of them?” I recited my observation and it turned out I was spot-on. Both boys come from wealthy families and don’t have to do anything at home. “His hands are smoother than a baby’s bottom.” I smiled.

Two weekends ago, after church Sunday, my mom brought home three students to help her make dumplings. It turned out it meant they would make a small batch before joining the boys downstairs for video game. “What can you tell me about them?” My mom asked like a test question as I helped roll out the dumpling wrappers.

My observations were spot on again. How is that possible? How could I had read those kids like an open book? Do I have a gift I don’t know about?

And it wasn’t just the kids. One of our houses was for rent again and after each potential tenant left, my mom would ask me about my reading and whether my gut tells me the potential tenant could be trusted or not and whether they’ll have money for rent. She seemed to trust my judgment instead of her desperation or was she exploiting my gift?

All in all, I think people reading is a valuable skill to have but I don’t think it should be used in public and I think we should keep our judgment to ourselves. Don’t you think so?