the good the bad and the ugly

When I was young, my mom, like most moms in the world used to tell me to stay away from bad people. And, like most moms in the world, almost everyone was a bad person for her gullible, innocent, and saintly child.  It turned out to be more difficult, than I had assumed. The same kid that used to help me with homework was the one who cheated in exams. The girl who used to make drawings for my friend made faces at me. 

It left a very profound lesson for me. There is no good or bad person in the world. There are only people who are good for you, or people who are bad for you. 

There are people, good for you, who are joking along about anyone or anything, but find the time to sit down with you in the corridor on a cold night, right before an important event, to advice you with all their wisdom, to help you gather your strengths as your eyes start to weep. And then there are people who stayed with you nights and days, & chose to abandon you, on those very cold nights, just because it didn't suit their lazy plans. 

There are people good for you, who stayed with you through thicks and thins of life, despite their own troubles and problems, and made sure there was someone nagging you to stay sane, while the world wanted otherwise. And then there are people bad for you, who had parties to attend, as the insane world crashed down upon you, in a hospital bed.

There are people good for you, who don't know you, other than the fact that you need them, and that's all that matters to them as they come forth, for your aid, at your call. And then there are people bad for you, who come to your aid, with their own aims, and for their own photographs. There are people good for you, loving, caring, sweet people, for whom life has been tough, and has forced them to present their hard, cruel, face to itself.

And there are people bad for you, selfish, ignorant, toxic, who know the sweetest words and the kindest gestures, but never, genuine actions.

There are no good or bad people in the world. There is only a dilemma. The dilemma, of being with good people, or becoming one.