I like to believe in the saying ‘don’t judge a book by its
cover’ for all kinds of situations in life, especially with people. There has
been so many occasions where I’ve taken a look at someone and thought ‘no way
will I get on with that person’, but after talking to them for an hour or so, I
find that we have so much in common and get on like a house on fire. After
these encounters, I began only thinking ‘we won’t get on’ after talking to
someone and getting to know them a little – so I was embarrassed by myself on
what happened to me today.
As I was on the bus coming home from town, a young Muslim girl got on. She was wearing an intricately detailed head scarf and traditional Muslim dress. As she sat down, she popped in her head phones and listened to music as she stared out of the window. I couldn’t help but overhear what she was listening to: Slipknot, Of Mice and Men and some old Linkin Park tunes. And I hate to say, but I was completely shocked. I was in a state of confusion on why this traditional looking Muslim girl would be listening to something that…well…was what I would listen to really. And then it occurred to me, I had completely stereotyped this young girl into what I thought she should be. I was convinced that I didn’t stereotype people these days, and it was like a slap in the face when I had realised. But really, why should it shock me that someone who looks different to what I do might listen to the same kind of thing as me?
Another thing I have noticed on similar lines is the way people react to me with my blue hair (or whatever colour it might be that week). I usually get three kinds of responses.
- people who aren’t all that fussed and just walk past without even looking
- people who are genuinely intrigued by me
- people who look at me like I’ve just murdered someone or have done something shifty.
The first two points really don’t bother me. Like hey, I know I’m a little different to what you usually see around here so have a nosey if you like. It’s the third that REALLY gets me. It’s the look I get, the disgusted look and the ‘daggers’ as if I’ve done something wrong or that I’m less than a person than they are. How the heck do they know if I’m a bad person or not? There’s no need to look at me like that. Plus it’s not as though they have a quick glance, they full on stare at me constantly. If you don’t know me, you can’t really make assumptions.
I once had a woman tell me in a supermarket that I would never get a job and I’ll just take and take and take everything that I can get from the government instead of making the effort to look normal and try get a job. The look on her face was as though I’d slapped her when I simply said ‘well that’s weird, my project managing role must be imaginary’ as I unzipped my coat to show my works security/ID pass. Just goes to show how important that saying really is. I just wish there was more people in the world that weren’t so ignorant to physical appearances.
As I was on the bus coming home from town, a young Muslim girl got on. She was wearing an intricately detailed head scarf and traditional Muslim dress. As she sat down, she popped in her head phones and listened to music as she stared out of the window. I couldn’t help but overhear what she was listening to: Slipknot, Of Mice and Men and some old Linkin Park tunes. And I hate to say, but I was completely shocked. I was in a state of confusion on why this traditional looking Muslim girl would be listening to something that…well…was what I would listen to really. And then it occurred to me, I had completely stereotyped this young girl into what I thought she should be. I was convinced that I didn’t stereotype people these days, and it was like a slap in the face when I had realised. But really, why should it shock me that someone who looks different to what I do might listen to the same kind of thing as me?
Another thing I have noticed on similar lines is the way people react to me with my blue hair (or whatever colour it might be that week). I usually get three kinds of responses.
- people who aren’t all that fussed and just walk past without even looking
- people who are genuinely intrigued by me
- people who look at me like I’ve just murdered someone or have done something shifty.
The first two points really don’t bother me. Like hey, I know I’m a little different to what you usually see around here so have a nosey if you like. It’s the third that REALLY gets me. It’s the look I get, the disgusted look and the ‘daggers’ as if I’ve done something wrong or that I’m less than a person than they are. How the heck do they know if I’m a bad person or not? There’s no need to look at me like that. Plus it’s not as though they have a quick glance, they full on stare at me constantly. If you don’t know me, you can’t really make assumptions.
I once had a woman tell me in a supermarket that I would never get a job and I’ll just take and take and take everything that I can get from the government instead of making the effort to look normal and try get a job. The look on her face was as though I’d slapped her when I simply said ‘well that’s weird, my project managing role must be imaginary’ as I unzipped my coat to show my works security/ID pass. Just goes to show how important that saying really is. I just wish there was more people in the world that weren’t so ignorant to physical appearances.
No comments:
Post a Comment