Everyone But You!

I am sure most people have stereotyped one group of people as the same at one point in their life. I feel I’ve done this as a teen and possible a young adult. But I thought the older you get, the wiser you are, right? Not as much as you think, or as I thought!

I have the opportunity to sit in a waiting room once a week while my daughter has her dance lesson. I also have the privilege to sit with a variety of personalities! I would assume some share my feeling of annoyance of the conversations that are carried on in there with other parents that are waiting. Some are smart enough to leave and sit in their car and wait until the 45 minutes are up! I just wish my youngest would sit nicely in the car, hence I endure the torture of listening to these idiotic topics that I can’t believe a grown person would utter, in their “outside” voice!

The topic was “How all people who live in the south are stupid and slow.” You have three moms having this conversation. I would guess that their ages are in the 30’s. Once I heard this comment, I am glad that they couldn’t see my face and shaking of my head behind my paper! I find current affairs in the Herald more relevant to my life at this moment. “I was telling him my order and he said I was talking too fast! So I had to repeat myself much slower!” She then proceeded to demonstrate how much slower she had to speak. The person wasn’t “dumb” she probably was going too fast to get her order in. So in return this personal was talked to like they were a 2 year old while she enunciated every syllable. Hopefully she said her “r”s because everyone from New England drops them, right?

Then it went on about how the twang in southerner’s speech makes them sound so stupid. Have you heard the Big Apple commercial on the radio where there’s a man with a heavy Maine accent? Judging by that, everyone from Maine has a very heavy accent that sounds like they are hillbillies and they need to get all their necessities at a convenient store, right? Did that assumption come out of an actual grown person? It did! I remember one time going to Mexico. My Spanish is ok and I am Hispanic. So, since I am Hispanic I must know how to speak Spanish, right? I went into a store looking to buy souvenirs. The clerk asked me something but they had said it too fast. I told him that I understand more than I can speak and if he could repeat himself but just a bit slower. Then he continued to talk to me as if I was a small child! I smiled, thanked him politely, and took my business elsewhere. Ignorance will get you in trouble, or no sales.

Well, these ladies continued their conversation in ignorance. A man had come back in to wait the last 5 minutes or so until class was over. In the corner of my eye I saw him smirking as the conversation continued, and as I continued to shake my head. I’m pretty good at being able to drown out most noise around me, but also having to pay attention to my youngest, it’s very hard to in there. Finally, I think an actual light bulb went off  in one of their heads because she said, “I hope no one here is from the south!” Then the gentleman smiled and said “I’m from Mississippi.” If you listen to him closely, or just pay attention,  you can hear a slight southern accent in his voice. I smiled, all behind my paper even though I so wanted  to see the look on her face when he said that! She continued to say, “Well, you don’t have a heavy accent. Where in Mississippi?” I can’t remember where he said. Then she went on to say that they weren’t in that area and that must not be the WAY south. She told him where they were and he said it was about 10 miles from where he was from. This was getting better and better. She continued to dance around the subject with him and the other ladies. I can’t remember what the final remark was from her but I turned to him and said, “Well, everybody but you.” and smiled broadly and shook my head.

This made me think about how often does this social faux pas happens. I was relaying this situation with a friend of mine and she stated that it had happened to her recently. Some ladies were making a generalization on the type of people that shop at Walmart.  The people that shop there are low class, no class type of people. Come on, everyone has seen the website, “People of Walmart,” right? That is who shops there!! Now, these were educated women stating this. This friend of mine shops at Walmart. And it made me smile so that she said she stated this fact straight to them and told them why! The posse in me wanted to be there and stand up and say, “Take That!” Probably with choice words at the end! I don’t shop at Walmart generally because of different reasons. I took a sociology class that was based on the Walmart company and how it functions. It had nothing to do with the people that shop there. But do I go there when I have birthday party after birthday party or even a fiesta that I’m throwing, yes!

Always live  by this rule of thumb, assuming always makes an ass out of you! But not necessarily “me”. I’m always telling my girls to stop and think before you do or say something. I think some adults need a refresher on this course as well. Assumption has this country all out of sorts even in world wide news. And it’s not just now, it’s in our history. I’m a 39 year old, Mexican/Puerto Rican, Accountant that lives in Maine. I’m training for my first marathon, I don’t speak/understand fluent Spanish, I do love rice and beans, I hate mole (the dish not the animal), I have a BA in sociology but love math, and I’m from the Chicago area (never in a gang or shot a gun). Are there any other assumptions?