On a sparsely populated stretch of two-lane highway my uncle’s car broke down. Long before the invention of cell phones he was stuck in the middle of nowhere. Completely helpless he was dependent upon the off-chance someone would come along.
After a short period of time he heard a soft buzzing. It sounded like a distant swarm of bees heading in his direction. As the noise grew louder he watched the horizon. Soon a group of motorcycle riders crested the hill.
Although my uncle had never before encountered bikers, he was terrified at the sight of them. He had a preconceived idea they were dangerous. Most likely they would rob and possibly kill him. With nowhere to hide he felt completely helpless as he watched them approach.
Big tattooed guys with scraggly beards, du-rags and wallets on chains may seem ominous. However, “judging a book by its cover” does not accurately determine whether it is good, or bad. In my Uncle’s experience most of the group waved as they passed him by, but two riders did stop. Politely they asked to be of help. They found the problem and soon my uncle was back on the road with a new perspective of the gentlemen.
There are times when stereotypes are accurate. However, more often than not judging other people based upon what you have heard or how they look does not determine whether they are actually good or bad. Like having to read a book before we can make an evaluation based upon our own experience, the same is true for our accurately evaluating the inner nature of individual people through their behavior.
Get to know someone who is a different ethnic, religious or cultural background. Look for the common threads that connect you as spiritual beings sharing a great human adventure.
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In my own past experience, I lived in a small town where everybody knew each other. I worked in a restaurant and one of the employees was named Gilbert who was 2 or 3 years older than me. He kinda dressed like what some would consider a “thug”. But very nice and friendly to everybody and loved to joke around.
At the same time, in my high school, there were stories of a gang member named “Sleepy” who struck terror in everyone that heard them. One night at work, Im telling “Gilbert” these stories about “Sleepy”. All of a sudden he breaks out in laughter and says, “Im Sleepy! That’s me!”
So sometimes, after you’ve already “read” the book, and THEN look at the cover, you see a different picture!
March 12th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
I really liked this post. Can I copy it to my site? Thank you in advance.
June 4th, 2009 at 1:44 pm