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[Return to Home] [Return to Reflection Room] The Blindness of Superficiality and Ignorance There was something that disturbed me deeply today. While I was standing waiting for the subway, a man with the Aid's Walk called out to me and not being in a particularly good mood, I simply politely held up my hand and told him no-thanks. Without a beat, the man, who happened to be African American, decided that I was afraid of him because he was black and said it to my face, even going as far as to inform me that not all black people are bad. It was utterly stunning to me how a person who didn't even know me could automatically assume anything and feel that he had a right to harrass me in that fashion with absolutely no basis at all. I was tempted to shoot back at him and just really take my frustrations out on him by telling him to his face how he was too ignorant, arrogant, and too self-absorbed in his own bitterness to really care about anyone else's feelings but his own. To me, he disgraces good causes like the Aids Walk, but I knew that people like him were not typical of good organizations. I chose to just be polite and forget about it. His mind was made up and there was just no point in my wasting my energy. Ignorance is like religion in a way. No proof is necessary. It amazes me how anyone can make judgements based on the way someone looks or does with utterly no sense of empathy for who they are. It is perhaps more astonishing to me how superficial these people think *we* all are in our perceptions of them. In all cities you find a lot of superficiality in the conduct and dress of the people. Though it is often considered a natural course of events, it appears to me that in order for wearing masks to become a way of life for the masqueraders, the must value how something appears more important than the substance that is really there beneath the mask. For anyone to be so self-concerned about how they're perceived, who they're seen with, or who they want others to believe, it's no wonder they have problems knowing who they even are. It is probably even this exact same mentality that decides in the minds of the judgemental observer whether or not OJ Simpson was innocent or guilty. Only the jury saw the evidence, but most were more than willing to decide his guilt and agree that he should be executed, some in less than modern terms. In a country born on Christian principles, few people seem to have the sense to exercise them. We seem to be a society driven by the maintenance of illusory perceptions. We do good works or donate because we feel it will get us to heaven or because there is some other big reward waiting for us. We are kind to someone because it is to our advantage especially if they're rich and powerful. And we do what we feel we should if people will then think that's the type of person we are. What ever happened to good old fashioned honesty, of doing things because your heart truly moves you to and not for some free positive publicity or to get on TV and "be somebody?" How many people do you see interviewed on TV do you remember a week from now? A month from now? A year? Mostly, unless you know that person personally, you won't even remember their face. In places often filled with self-servitude and superficiality, it is truly those few people who are honest to themselves and act from their hearts that stand out. From the Malden Mills fire, to the police and fire fighters who risk their lives doing their job, it's the people who don't ask for the recognition, who don't seek or want it that are the embodiment of what being truly human is all about. These are the people who are the hope of our world, who inspire the rest of us to greater and better things. But so often their sacrifices are forgotten like the pages of yesterday's news and we see more people like the Aids Walk "volunteer." It is people like that who embody the worst in us, blind to who we are, blind to who they are, and absolutely arrogant in their ignorance. These are the people who drive drunk and think they can get away with it, who think they can out run the state troopers, and who think it's ok to steal or step on someone if they can get away with it. So to all those who believe in deluding themselves into thinking they're somebody because they're working for some politically correct cause- if you don't feel with your heart, then in the end your bitterness will make you a nobody. The true heroes in our society are those who work every day of their lives putting food on the table, watching out for our and our children's safety, and put themselves in danger to keep us safe. These heroes don't ask for recognition, they don't seek recognition, and are honest to themselves and others. They don't pretend to be more than they are, they simply are. And to all the individuals, parents, teachers, police officers, and firefighters who truly do the best they can every day I salute you. There aren't enough truly caring and honest people in this world. And it is the true rarity of souls like yours that make this place just a little bit nicer to live in. -Albert Wang 5/9/97 |