This weekend was pretty damned brutal. I got in a car accident and now must enter and exit my vehicle through the passenger door. I have become quite swift actually, after 4 days. The accident happened, and the police officer arrived shortly thereafter. Boy was that an experience.
First of all, I was making a left turn onto a side road from Main St. There was no traffic light, just a left turn. I slow down and let oncoming traffic pass, signaled, and turned. Then.. WHAM. I am smashed on my driver's side from the vehicle behind me. The traffic flow was one lane in either direction separated by a double yellow line. No white dashed line separating lanes, etc. So why the woman was trying to pass me on either side, I am unsure. Regardless, the officer came and was rather unkind to me. And I realize I am at quite the disadvantage. I am from out of town, a 20 year old college student, and the other woman was local and middle aged. He was negative toward me, and completely stereotyped me from the get-go; thinking that I am a primadona Daddy's girl that doesn't know how to drive. Which is completely false on all accounts.
Later in Management class Monday evening, stereotypes were the ironic topic of discussion. I realized that many people hold preconceived notions and stereotypes about one another. Even I fall culprit on occasion. My professor, however, made a fantastic point to mention that by definition, stereotypes are inaccurate, false measures. Not that I believe them to be true in any fashion whatsoever, but it was enlightening to learn that even by definition stereotypes are categorized as false. It is common knowledge that stereotypes are wrong, but interesting to learn that they are literally false.
My new goal is to look at a person, and think of their best possible quality- and avoid stereotypes altogether. Like a police officer for instance, although I happened to encounter a not so friendly one, the stereotype that all officers are out to get you I should really drop. Maybe this new outlook will be apparent for next time I have a similar encounter (knock on wood!) and things will go a little more smoothly. I think this will apply to a lot of things in general, not just law enforcement authority figures.
Stay tuned.
Stereotypes are devices for saving a biased person the trouble of learning. -Unknown
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Lesson.Learned.
As tomorrow dawns, I will have two weeks of junior year under my belt. I have already learned some great things, less pertaining to academia.
I added a Yoga class thinking it would break up my heavily analytical business schedule of Finance, Management, Marketing, and International Business, and also be a great way to relax and escape the hectic weeks. Turns out the class is a lot of work, which I am not adverse to, but certainly did not expect. There are intense journals after every asana (yoga pose) which I feel takes away from the yoga experience. There is a 12 page paper, and video journals as well. Just seems like a lot of work for a yoga class, and nothing I was necessarily expecting. I contemplated dropping the course, until I thought to myself, Jess, when you are working in the real world and your boss hands you a project on your already loaded agenda, what are you going to do about it? You're going to do it, that's what. And you're going to do it to the best of your ability with all of your effort. So I am still in the course, and looking forward to 1:15 when I will enter FA 091 with a new outlook on the class. It is remarkable how small instances like this define one's personality traits and work ethic so profoundly.
I have also, since being at school, helped friends out a lot. This is not much of a change as before, but I find it happening more and more frequently. Giving friends rides home that don't want to pay for a cab because I am always the sober one, taking care of my drunken sickly friends, doing laundry, cooking dinner, etc. I realize that with these people I am making an investment. I am investing my time and efforts into our relationships so that in the future I can earn a return on my investment in the same manner in which I initially invested. It has become something of a future asset, that I can claim somewhere down the road when I need a favor, and hopefully I will be able to collect interest! The only problem is- what if I have invested in a poor security? What if my investments yield little to no returns? I suppose that is the risk you take, and that is essentially how friendships work. Some are more giving than taking, but I am staying optimistic. At least with some of my investments.
Lastly, I have learned that things are not always as they seem. I recently moved in with 6 other girls (5 on my cheerleading team), one of whom it was no secret, I did not get along with whatsoever. We are both extremely opinionated and often knocked heads. I thought living with her would be a nightmare at the worst, or silent at best- essentially not expecting much of a friendship at all. Turns out we are talking more than ever and really opening up. We have been sharing more personal anecdotes and experiences with one another, and I really did not expect it at all. We actually agree on a lot of things off the court, and it took me by surprise. We spoke of friendships with men vs women and she has three best friends (whom live in the house) and made a comment along the lines of - "and surprisingly I have been talking to you a lot about stuff lately too!" I knew we were on the same page in many regards. We both acknowledge that we did not get off on the right foot, that we were wrong in our assumptions about each other, and lastly, that a legitmate friendship is actually starting to form, rather than a simple tolerance. Its really a great lesson to learn, and for once I honestly am pleased that I was/am wrong. I think I'll take this one with me.
Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. - George Washington
Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. - C.S. Lewis
I added a Yoga class thinking it would break up my heavily analytical business schedule of Finance, Management, Marketing, and International Business, and also be a great way to relax and escape the hectic weeks. Turns out the class is a lot of work, which I am not adverse to, but certainly did not expect. There are intense journals after every asana (yoga pose) which I feel takes away from the yoga experience. There is a 12 page paper, and video journals as well. Just seems like a lot of work for a yoga class, and nothing I was necessarily expecting. I contemplated dropping the course, until I thought to myself, Jess, when you are working in the real world and your boss hands you a project on your already loaded agenda, what are you going to do about it? You're going to do it, that's what. And you're going to do it to the best of your ability with all of your effort. So I am still in the course, and looking forward to 1:15 when I will enter FA 091 with a new outlook on the class. It is remarkable how small instances like this define one's personality traits and work ethic so profoundly.
I have also, since being at school, helped friends out a lot. This is not much of a change as before, but I find it happening more and more frequently. Giving friends rides home that don't want to pay for a cab because I am always the sober one, taking care of my drunken sickly friends, doing laundry, cooking dinner, etc. I realize that with these people I am making an investment. I am investing my time and efforts into our relationships so that in the future I can earn a return on my investment in the same manner in which I initially invested. It has become something of a future asset, that I can claim somewhere down the road when I need a favor, and hopefully I will be able to collect interest! The only problem is- what if I have invested in a poor security? What if my investments yield little to no returns? I suppose that is the risk you take, and that is essentially how friendships work. Some are more giving than taking, but I am staying optimistic. At least with some of my investments.
Lastly, I have learned that things are not always as they seem. I recently moved in with 6 other girls (5 on my cheerleading team), one of whom it was no secret, I did not get along with whatsoever. We are both extremely opinionated and often knocked heads. I thought living with her would be a nightmare at the worst, or silent at best- essentially not expecting much of a friendship at all. Turns out we are talking more than ever and really opening up. We have been sharing more personal anecdotes and experiences with one another, and I really did not expect it at all. We actually agree on a lot of things off the court, and it took me by surprise. We spoke of friendships with men vs women and she has three best friends (whom live in the house) and made a comment along the lines of - "and surprisingly I have been talking to you a lot about stuff lately too!" I knew we were on the same page in many regards. We both acknowledge that we did not get off on the right foot, that we were wrong in our assumptions about each other, and lastly, that a legitmate friendship is actually starting to form, rather than a simple tolerance. Its really a great lesson to learn, and for once I honestly am pleased that I was/am wrong. I think I'll take this one with me.
Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. - George Washington
Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. - C.S. Lewis
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