Nerds Social Contract: Judgment

Hey folks, J-Foo here!

This isn't going to be the usual wild and zany post from J-foo like most times. I thought I'd actually post something heavily related to what Nerds Socialize is about. I had an experience at work today that reminded me of certain social events in my life that made me not want to socialize with people as much. Through out my life, there has been a very constant and common theme that seems to pop up when I meet new people. It is something that irritates me, frustrates me, and angers me. When you meet someone, they usually make a judgment on you the moment they set eyes on you. For me, this judgment is that I'm some rich kid whose never worked a day in his life, never known struggle and has had everything handed to me on a silver platter.

I do not know why people think this of me, but I always find it irritating and an unfair judgment because people do not know who I am. At my last job, I literally heard that description of me said to a coworker as I was working. This was on my FIRST day there, and they weren't sure if they were going to keep me. I worked so hard, and sweat so much from moving so fast and pretty much doing a two person job by myself that they hired me THAT day. The boss that was saying I was some privileged kid told me “man.. you work harder than I thought you would...” it made me happy to impress, but at the same time, it annoyed me that I had to show them how good I work just form them to actually respect me. It's like that at my current job now.

When I started boxing, the situation was exactly the same. My coach didn't like me (albeit he didn't tell me til 4 months later) and he wanted me to give up on boxing SO much. He eventually told me “I didn't like you... just something about how you looked I just didn't like...” and eventually he finally revealed what it was. He was so used to people coming from suburban area's (like me) who just want to be tough, or want to try boxing cause it's cool. He then revealed “But, you are the exception to that rule, you actually work and actually enjoy the sport”. I was so surprised when he told me, but felt proud that I was considered and exception to the rule for once.

So I guess what I'm getting at is, try not to judge people just because they seem a certain way. Try to give people a shot before you write them off. You might be surprised at what you may find. You might find a new friend you never expected to find, or you may just find a nice conversation to enjoy. That's it for my rantings today, have a good night folks, and see ya on the other side!