At one point or another in life, we have all heard the famous line: "Don't judge a book by its cover." From a literal stand point, you look at a "book" and decide not to read it because it's cover doesn't appeal to you. Yet, with a twist and turn of its meaning, the central idea can be applied to almost anything.
I always look for a deeper understanding to everything; I never like to draw a picture without first knowing all the details of the situation. Also, I have never been the one to judge a person by their physical appearance. I find it immoral and unjust to create a stereotype about a person just by their characteristics, especially when I hardly know the person nor have gotten to know them. So why am I thinking and acting different all of a sudden?
The alteration (which I do not like) of my actions is contradicting a way of life I have been following for many years. Although it's not the correct word to use, for some reason, I feel like a racist. I feel and classify myself as a racist based on my current tendings to label people. I do not do it intentionally, but for some reason I see a blonde girl and think, "Oh God here comes another plastic girl." Don't take offense for I am really not this way, but the blonde thing is minimal to what really made me look back at the quote. The same event that sparked such unethical contemplation was none the less the one that inspired me to prove myself wrong. I went on a journey to reveal that the conclusions I came to about this certain person were errorneous. And, what if what I had concluded were infact true? Would that mean my ideology was errorneous? I couldn't even think about it.
The situation along with the quest began on the second day of my English class. It all occured the moment Subject1101 (as I shall refer to this person) walked into class. I stared blankly at Subject1101 standing at the doorway and thought, "Wow, this person must be slower than me." It sickens me to think that I can assume such a thing just by the way the person dressed. Something about Subject1101's style and aura made me want to think the person unintelligent. But I knew I was wrong. I knew that what I have lived by all this time could not possibly fail me now. I knew that the clothes must have been a disguise; the clothes were purposedly used hide and divert the attention from the intellectual the person is inside. I needed to pry open this fortification and find the answer I seeked. I needed to test the knowledge and enlightenment Subject1101 kept locked up behind those garments.
To make a long story short, I got the answer I was investigating. With my skills, along with the help of others, I found out that Subject1101 IS in fact much smarter than what he/she appears to be. I found the news to be both to my satisfaction and some what of a disappointment. The good news is that the theory proved it self to be correct in every aspect. The bad news is that I am the slower one out of the two of us. He/She proved to be much more gifted than I had ever anticipated. But, regardless of my emotional downfall, the good news largely outweighs that of the bad one.
Although I have abriged my quest for the truth, I can not fail to acknowledge my thoughts on the other side of the spectrum. What do others think of me? When I say I am a Hispanic, do people automatically label me as a Mexican or a "Beaner"? Now that we hit on the subject, I don't even like beans!
I seriously hope that my experience comes as lesson to others. We are all human and we make mistakes. I learned that I shouldn't anticipate the personality of a person based on their physical attributes. I hope that my behavior can come as an "eye opener" to others and stop the madness of stereotypes that circulate our lives. Maybe I wanted to test the validity of the phrase. I am glad the results turned out the way they did. Imagine if I would have stood by my initial label about Subject1101. I might have missed out on such a great person, one that I could relate to. There is only one way such a misfortune can be avoided: "DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER!"