Crashing in

We waste a great deal of mental energy avoiding people because of pre-conceived notions. I wrote a column about the movie Crash this week (http://www.cynthianademocrat.com/view) and the more I thought about it, the more I could have elaborated.

If you haven't seen it, Crash deals a lot with how people perceive those of different - and unfamiliar - ethnic backgrounds. One character, for example, sees all Latino people as Mexicans no matter where they are from.

It's the differences in people that I am interested in. All the Latin American countries have different cultures and social mores. As an American it's all too easy to just lump them all together as 'Mexicans.' It's the same with Asia, Europe and the Middle East. In fact, it's probably the most pronounced but the least know in the Middle East. I've learned quite a bit this week with the Lebanon-Israel conflict. For example, I'm sure everybody know how Israelis are different than Arabs. But, how many of you know that Iranians are not Arabs? I didn't. It's our logical assumption here in the states that all Muslims are Arabs, when that's not even close to true. Incidentally, that fact could be why the Muslim extremists haven't fused together as one solid unit (which would be bad for everyone). The cultural differences inside the Muslim faith have likely kept them separated.

Getting back on point, we also have these notion about people based on their jobs. Think about it - When you hear, 'lawyer,' 'doctor,' 'politician,' 'journalist,' what do you think?
I bet you think you know what they are all about based on what they do.

You would be wrong.

We're all different, I personally don't feel the same way about many things as other journalists. I would bet that if you talked to a group of doctors without knowing what they do, you would find scores of differences between them.

Unfortunately, we hardly ever take the time to really get to know people.