So I learned something in a philosophy class the other day that I didn’t immediately dismiss as pretentious intellectual backwash. We were discussing Kant and it was all “Blah blah, ethical living, blah blah, moral decisions,” and I wasn’t listening.

Just before my mind was completely lost to meandering, something the professor said struck me. Amid all the blah, the philosopher Kant suggested viewing other people as “ends” rather than “means.” In normal-people speak, this means not using people as human monkey-wrenches for engineering whatever plan suits your selfish interests.

We all know mooches. That guy who conveniently never has change for the streetcar, whose favorite phrase is “I’ll pay you back,” but he never does. The mooch is a more obvious case. But what about everyday use and abuse? I started thinking about my own patterns.

Who I’d call when I needed a ride, notes for class or a meal didn’t really match up with who I’d call when I just wanted good company. That ain’t right.

I don’t think that most people realize it when they treat others as means. Unless, of course, one considers the infamous late night dials known as “booty calls.” I’m pretty sure everyone knows what’s up with the booty calls.

What I started thinking about is an overall perception of the value of other human beings. When you look at others, do you immediately evaluate their importance to you based upon what they can provide? For example: The kid with the 21 ID is never short on friends; neither is the owner of a pickup truck around the end of lease periods.

Though this type of exploitation is inevitable and small-scale, it still degrades. Using others for sex, booze, transportation, money or even as self-esteem boosters sidesteps the goal of human relationships: connectedness and mutual respect.

I have no problem seeing my friends in all their faulted glory and accepting and appreciating them for both negative and positive traits. That’s easy. It’s a little more difficult to view another person you don’t know so well and aren’t bound to see as a person deserving of your respect.

I’ve started paying attention to how much time passes in a conversation before I start tuning someone out and how many beats pass before the inevitable, “Hey, can you do me a favor?” slithers out. Instead of looking at other people with my wants and projections woven into their fabric, I’ve tried to take steps toward seeing the whole human apart from what he or she can do for me.

Please avert your eyes as I scrape the philosophical mud from my boots.