Thought

Ed, of <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/h/blogs/citylights/">City Lights</a>, met up with his favorite person, the sage, again and had an <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/12/24/news/local/50-lights.txt">interesting conversation</a> with him. It all boiled down to a merry Christmas wish but there was another statement in the article that really caught my eye that was more worth noting than the Christmas wish.<br />n<br />n<blockquote>"Why is it that you always act so startled at everything I do? Perhaps the issue is not my behavior, but your assumptions."</blockquote><br />n<br />nIn life we all need to quit making assumptions and see the person for who they are. <br />n<br />nIs it so hard to see past our preconceptions to maybe believe that all Republicans aren't out to destroy the public education system in the US or that all Democrats aren't out to tax us to death and give the money to poor immigrants? Maybe stay at home moms aren't air headed morons whose husbands beat them into submission, and maybe immigrants to our country aren't all poor Mexicans looking for a hand out and wanting to destroy our way of life? Maybe all blonds aren't idiots who can't think their way out of a paper bag and gay men aren't all effeminate pansies who stand out like a sore thumb?<br />n<br />nThe list can go on and on and on. Why can't we as human beings try to look past our notions and see the people behind the preconceptions as people, just like us, who care about things and are trying to do the best they can in what always is a difficult situation, life in general? We all want the same thing, to make life better. We just have different ways of looking at it. Instead of calling your neighbor, used in the bigger concept of another human being on our fragile planet, evil because he doesn't agree with you try to see past your preconceptions to what he is saying. You still won't agree with him, but doesn't he have the right to hold his opinion just as you do yours? His opinion might be "evil" in the bigger concept of life but just mouthing the word "evil," without understanding what is driving the opinion, demeans us all.<br />n<br />nThe Sage really struck a home run here. It's something we all need to think about, our assumptions and how they work against opening up a dialog that might help us all.<br />n<br />n<strong>Why is it that you always act so startled at everything I do? Perhaps the issue is not my behavior, but your assumptions. The Sage</strong>