Snow Rising by Matt Baldwin

Judgmental Pride?

Deseret News:  “One of the themes that surfaces (to me) is how wrong our initial impressions and judgments are of people, e.g., Jason’s view of Aaron, and Jeff- but how later, by getting to know them, his attitude changes- and how during the accident, the perceived weakness of each team member actually work together for the greater good.  Is judgmental pride one of society’s downfalls?”

Matt:  “I think it’s safe to say that all people have at least one thing in common:  we are all prejudiced.  We all pre-judge.  No one is exempt.  We make instant assessments about the qualities of everyone we come in contact with.  We look at body type and size, clothing, skin color, gender, shoes, hair length, hair color. Who are they with and what do their companions look like? Do they appear confident? Do they make eye contact?  Are they slouching or ramrod straight?  What is that accent?   How did they enter the room? Are they sitting back in the chair with legs crossed, or are they sitting forward with arms on the table?

“Some of this is a conscious assessment, some unconscious.  Either way, we make a judgment.  We pre-judge.  Sometimes we’re dead on.  And sometimes we are so off it’s laughable.

“It’s impossible to be human and not do this.  It’s the nature of the beast.  But what we can realize is that our assessment may or may not be accurate.  If we could at least understand and acknowledge that we are pre-judging, that would be a step in the right direction.  Lets give this person a little breathing room, lets get to know them before we put them in a box, tape it up, and ship it out.  I’m not sure the prejudice we carry around is judgmental pride, or simply the result of being human, having experiences, and judging everything going forward by those past experiences.  Some of it may be an attitude, conscious or subconscious:  I’m not willing to trust anyone who doesn’t look or act like me or what I’m comfortable with.

“There’s a lot here that’s fascinating.  For example, I can get on an airplane, fly halfway around the world, and walk into a meeting with a bunch of people who may look like they just dropped in from another planet, and have no problem with accepting their legitimacy.  They are dressed in something I’ve never seen, wearing sunglasses and no shoes, they speak in an accent that is darn hard to understand, they have piercings and hair length and mannerisms that are outside any galaxy I’ve ever been in.  Yet, I’m fine.  No problems.  Apparently, this is how the program runs here in this part of the world.  Put that same person in a conference room in your own city, and your judgment will change instantly.  Now they are suspicious, wacky, nonconforming, perhaps even untrustworthy.  Exact same person, mind you.  Different context.  Isn’t that interesting?  What does they say about us?

“This much I am convinced of:  we all miss gaining new friends who may have the ability to uniquely bless our lives.  Why?  Because we shut them out before we ever really know them, and that’s a shame.