The world is such a judgmental place. We all make assumptions every day without realising.
We often assume so much just from the way a person looks, or dresses, or whether they have tattoos or piercings, or even from the nationality they appear to be. I guess it’s human nature to judge before knowing, a way of protecting oneself from the big bad out there.
I’ve been on the receiving end of judgmental stares more times than I’d care to remember, and I have a feeling I’ve dished out even more without realising.
During my time at uni I made assumptions about people frequently. If someone didn’t meet my idea of “being cool” I would instantly dismiss them. I wouldn’t be rude about it, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to be nice to them. “That’s life”, I can hear some people reading this, saying. But it shouldn’t be, you miss out on meeting some really interesting and genuine people.
One semester, I met this guy in one of my random classes. This guy became my practical partner in a class for the semester. I assumed a lot about the guy before he even spoke to me. He was overweight, had a bit of an acne problem, and wore very daggy clothes. They were new, but they were the type that no matter how new they were, they would always look old and dirty. The guy looked like the type that would’ve hated to be paired up with anyone not descended from the Anglo-Saxons.
Just from the way the guy looked I assumed so much. That he’d be slow, racist, and wouldn’t want to have anything to do with me. Instantly I was dismissive of him.
But he was a very genuine person, and persisted with me despite me being horrible. While we were waiting for things he’d tell me about his family back in Canberra, and how his brother was a mechanic, and the cars they’ve had…And he’d genuinely want to know about my life. He made no assumptions about me whatsoever, and even though I was short with him he continued to be nice to me. I even went out of my way to avoid him outside of class.
I had assumed he would be an ass, but in reality I was the ass.
This guy had character traits that I look for in people now. Now, I try not to assume anything and be open about the people I meet too. No matter what their race is, what they look like, what they’re wearing I try to treat them the same way as I would anyone else. I didn’t before, but now that I do I believe I’m much better off for it.
We should all aim to be like Kitty in my photo above. Look at the world with intense interest through clear wide eyes.