Stereotyping - An unintended...habit?

While coming back to India, in my flight from Hong Kong, I sat patiently in my seat. Well, not quite so patiently. Being one of the first few people to get on the flight, I was really anxious as to who my ‘partner’ would be. People kept crawling in, one by one, taking their own sweet time. Some looked completely weird, a few potentially scary and others were (dull looking) business men/women. When a fat nosy woman stopped near me, I almost said "Not here!", only to realize she kept moving along…A gruffy old man paid me a visit as well making me flinch. As more and more people passed by, my anxiety had doubled when finally a pretty jolly girl (Note the pun!!) came and claimed the spot next to me. I was relieved. For the next six hours, we had quite an interesting conversation I will remember all my life! 

A person who wears glasses and is smart is not always a nerd. [A hair cut (talking from experience) and contacts can work wonders!] A tribal act doesn't always mean leaves, branches and a campfire. A person sporting tattoos isn't always 'bad-ass' and learning classical dance doesn't mean you are uncool.

Looking back, it was probably rude of me to wince at the old man. He might have had his own story to tell as well. The fat lady may have been the sweetest soul ever! I realized that I should stop judging people, though it will be difficult for me as my mind is programmed to do so. 

Hmmmmm...I guess, it's all about keeping your mind open. Open about everything. Obviously when it comes to stereotypes, but about other stuff as well. Like not being afraid of doing stuff. That could mean going biking to different places, working in NGOs and joining a sewing class. (I know of a university student - boy to be specific - who wanted to buy a sewing machine!) Even something as simple as spending an afternoon trying to perfect the cup song. Most of us don't spend time productively and wallow ourselves in lethargy....we just keep on procrastinating and do nothing..but I digress. 

So if any of you know stories of people who turned out to be completely different from what you thought they were...go on, comment! You could also talk about some interesting person you met! :P

Kanksha :) 

P.S. I had first written a sentence with the word aeroplane in it. I got a bit confused with it's spelling as Blogger put a red wiggly line underneath it. Left with no option (Yeah, yeah, I could have taken the dictionary's opinion but...), I 'googled' and found out that it is spelt both ways - airplane and aeroplane. So Ha! Blogger. For once, your spell check is wrong! :P