Other People Are Different
You know, the older I get, the truer this gets. It's amazing how different other people are, not thinking like me, not acting like me, and so on. Okay, maybe it was always like that and I'm just becoming more aware of it.
Now comes the hard part, overcoming a subtle value judgment I may be guilty of, that being different than me is not a positive attribute. Of course, the way to overcome that judgment would be to try to imagine a world where everyone was just like me. That might be fun for a while, but in the long-term, it would be hard to contemplate.
But I'm really not arguing that every person shouldn't be a unique individual. I'm more focused on individual traits I find difficult to understand intellectually, while trying to avoid the value judgments. For example, why would one squelch an opposing point of view instead of listening to it? Why wouldn't one try to be on time for appointments? Why would one loudly share their most personal details using their Bluetooth ear phone in an airport? If a door was opened to one, why would they not extend that courtesy to the person behind them? Why would one pre-judge someone solely based on the race or group they belong to? Why would one blindly accept “news” from various sources without subjecting it to some critical thought? Why would one act as if rules and courtesies only apply to everyone else? And so on.
Am I suggesting these traits have never applied to me? Heavens no! But it's true I've never owned a Bluetooth ear phone _. Still, I do believe that I try to avoid these and similar traits. And, to the extent that other people don't, well, they're just different from me, I guess. I think I've learned to live with that, like I suspect others have learned to live with me. How are other people different from you?
enough