The Dude Testament

24. Dig styles.

Though the Dude has bigger burgers to fry at the moment than making new friends with oddly dressed strangers, he is appropriately cordial to the man, so much so that when the Stranger offers him a compliment (“I dig your style, Dude”), the Dude cheers up noticeably and responds in kind. In truth, the Dude digs all sorts of styles. It is no mean feat, especially when there are so many “styles” evident in a tolerant modern civilization, so many of which run contrary to our own.

There’s a principle in many religions (e.g. Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Norse Paganism) that one should always dig the style of strangers lest they be gods in disguise, dropping in unannounced to test our moral resolve. It’s a silly and somewhat circuitously self-serving notion, of course, but it probably had a profound effect on human relations. Welcoming strangers and digging their style, no matter how bizarre they might seem, is the grease that makes the wheels of civilization turn. Sadly, these “manners” sometimes appear quaint and laughably oldfashioned today. Radio shock jocks, sensationalist press, harried life schedules, and the commercial triumph of “fashion” have helped instill a knee-jerk tendency to criticize and prejudge people without giving them a chance to show their Dude colors. And knee jerks make jerk-offs of all of us.

There may be a semblance of truth to the old religious superstition though. We should treat strangers with kindness and accommodation, but not because they are gods who will punish us if we don’t. We should be dude to them because they are reflections of ourselves—just like the Dude’s face in the “Are You a Lebowski Achiever?” mirror is an oblique reflection of the millionaire. But achievement can go fuck itself (and often does). It is only our kindness that will be reflected back outward and onward, down through the generations, across the sands of time. The man for our time and place is the one who can give anyone the time of day, no matter how rough a time they may be personally having themselves. Everyone we encounter deserves to be treated as sacred because with a few negligible exceptions, the entire world is composed of strangers. It’s got that whole sacred cowboy thing goin’ on.