photo by skippy13

Everyone always prejudges, that’s what first impressions are. But how accurate can these be when they’re mostly based on preconceptions and stereotyping? How often is it convenient for us to not question them?

I’m not going to talk about the big issues here, such as racism, xenophobia, homophobia and so on. No. I want to address something smaller that is often neglected, but just as important.

The other day I was once more commuting to school on the ferry, and something happened.

I was sitting there and I saw a man in a really casual and relaxed outfit, “vacation wear”. He had a laptop with him and was talking business on the cellphone. I related myself to that man in some kind of level, thinking how cool that he was so informal, and I wish that to myself. (I wont get into much detail on where he might have been going, because from here to Lisbon with no luggage and just a laptop, it’s mostly like work.)

So far so good, right? I related to it and thought it was awesome.

But then, I looked down to his shoes! I’ve always hated that type of shoe and what it is usually associated with. And the immediate thought was of complete rejection now! “You and I are nothing alike”, came to mind! And so, it hit me!

I just let a stereotype take huge proportions into a kind of prejudice, and it affected my first judgment of this man. How ridiculous!

And I started to wonder how many times we let this happen. How often do we let small things become such major factors on a first impression?

We all have different perceptions of the same things. We perceive different meanings or connotations for the same objects, ideas, and sometimes even words.

And the truth is, I never thought any less of anyone based on their status or social class, so I kinda felt immune to all the prejudging crap. But even though it wasn’t in the same nuance as most people, I do it as well in some level, I’m not immune.

I was amazed, how shoes being such an innocent thing to consider could take such an exaggerated proportion! It’s rather irrational. It’s like analyzing evidences out of context. We don’t know anything about the circumstances, we are looking at only a fragment of this person, and yet we are quick to judge. We make assumptions and are inclined to believe them, not give it the benefit of the doubt.

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