Sterotypes (16)

The way that I look at sterotypes has changed drastically over the past five years.  I have come to realize, almost instantaneous, when I sterotype people, whereas, years ago, I didn't always notice.  It all started when I was on the road.  We traveled on average to six new cities every week.  With those new cities, came a wide variety of new people.  At first,  I didn't always see the "wide-variety".  I saw the jock, the brain, the princess...heck I saw the whole Breakfast Club.  I saw people how I thought I was supposed to see them.  It wasn't until I spent time with people that I considered to be so "alike" because of how they looked or how they carried themselves that I realized just how different they actually were. That is the only reason that I could assume that sterotypes exist.  The reason being that certain individuals register as the same because of similar surface characteristics.    The SURFACE.  What we see.  Not what we experience from being around the individuals.  To prove a point, I would like to share an encounter I had with two girls, twins actually.  From the outside, they didn't look like they cared about besides what people wore or who they were friends with.  In Hollywood, these girls would have been written into the story as the sterotypical "dumb blonds".  You know, the ones who twirl their hair and who don't speak with words, but simply with letters, like OMG or BRB.  In fact, that is what I expected from these girls.  The set of them.  Suprisingly enough, this couldn't be further from the truth.  These two girls couldn't be more different.  And even more suprisingly, they couldn't be more different from one another.  One was deeply philosophical and one was obsessed with sports.  The girls I ended up meeting were polar opposite to what I had expected.  It was in that moment, that I realized I needed to meet people before I presumed to know them.  I needed to have a conversation with them and allow them to be who they were and not who I expected them to be.  After all, that is what I would hope people who do for me.  This has significantly changed the people and the blessings that have walked into my life, and that is why I am so thankful for being so painfully aware of sterotypes. 

WC - 401