NORTHEAST GEORGIA BLOG

Judging people.  Don’t we all do it?  Don’t we all think we know the circumstances?  Don’t we all think we understand the situation?  Don’t we all kinda want someone elses life make ours seem a little better?

In a weird way I believe the answer to those questions are a resounding “yes”.

The fact of the matter is that most of the time we really don’t have a clue.  We’re totally ignorant about the situation.  We have no idea what caused the circumstances.  In reality we’re about as dumb as a rock when it comes to judging people accurately but we think we’re smart and we do it all the time.

We see the Latino driving the landscaping truck – there goes the stereotype – we all know what that means.  Not once do we stop to consider that this guy might be a third generation American citizen who owns his own successful company and is making a ton of money mowing lawns and trimming hedges.

We see the twentysomething mom who has a couple of kids that maybe are not the best behaved in public;   Well – we know how that stereotype works – I’ve made the judgement about these women before!  What we might not know is maybe her young husband was blown to pieces on a road outside of Tikrit, Iraq.  Maybe she has more discipline and mental toughness than any CEO at any Fortune 500 company around?

We see some guy in his 40’s waiting tables at a restaurant.  What’s up with this?  We don’t say anything but we all wonder.  Is it possible this guy was laid off from a very good paying job in a fantastic career and he’s just putting food on the table right now?  What if maybe after he was laid off he had a massive heart attack and had no insurance?  Could he of been diagnosed with cancer in between policies?

I have to say – over the years I’ve been one of the worst at pre-judging people.  I try not to do that anymore.  I’m sure people have looked at my situations and circumstances over the years and had their thoughts and comments.  We don’t know what we will be doing next week – let alone five years down the road.  We THINK we know…but we don’t.

I choose to judge people on the upside from now on.  Their current situation or circumstance is most likely not of their doing and is probably going to be temporary anyway.  A lot can happen to people – both on the positive AND negative side.  That guy you looked down on yesterday might be interviewing YOU for a job tomorrow.  The gal you laughed at last week could be the paramedic saving your life a month from now…

Something to think about.

Filed under: General Information