Sunday 30 August 2020

I am prejudiced


A few years ago I spent the morning at an old lady’s house waiting for the doctor to make a house-call.

Eventually the door bell rang and standing there was a young man in his late twenties wearing yellow jeans, a tartan style red shirt with no tie, and a sports jacket.

“I’m doctor Grange,” said he.

I let him in without a word and the old lady said: “You’re not Doctor Stuart; he’s my doctor you know!”

“Doctor Stuart is away, I’m new with the medical practice,” replied the young man as I left the room to give them some privacy.

As I waited in the hall I thought about this young man and, I must confess, I took an instant dislike to him. A doctor in jeans, indeed! And so young, what can he possibly know about medicine; he’s probably hardly ever practiced, still in diapers and just out of school.

Then it occurred to me. A light bulb switched on within my head and a message flashed in huge letters.

What a terrible thing prejudice is.

Just because he is young doesn’t make him a bad doctor. He’s probably the best qualified from his University and since he must have recently entered into practice his knowledge must be really up to date. Unlike an older doctor perhaps. (More prejudice.)

And so what if he’s wearing jeans? He’s probably off-duty and was advised by his practice to visit this old lady in the absence of her regular doctor. He obviously doesn’t attend work dressed like that.

You know, it’s human nature to be prejudiced. We all have our likes and dislikes and we react differently to peoples’ appearances, attire, age, accents, and the multitude of other feelings we have towards each other.

We’d do well to be aware of this part of our human nature and learn to keep it under control.

When Jesus walked this earth, He must have met many poor people whose clothes were dirty and torn. Lepers too, as well as prostitutes and evil-doers of all kinds. He didn’t use our prejudices in order to avoid them and judge them.

Instead, He used pity, compassion and love to help them to a better life. Yet we, especially the Christian ones amongst us, still hold some prejudices if we are honest with ourselves and with our God to even admit it. I did not know I was prejudiced until I met Doctor Grange. Although I'll admit to something else ...

Also a while back, years ago, I had to visit a computer shop about something or other to do with my laptop. The assistant had  a tattoo on his neck. Somehow this raised all sorts of prejudices in me. For all I know this man was probably the most talented computer expert in the world, he was probably a Christian like me, (what a poor example I was), he probably donated money to charity or visited the poor in soup kitchens, or the old or the sick in hospital. But that tattoo on his neck became an obstacle in my mind between me and him. Actually ... he fixed the laptop for me in a few minutes ... and did not charge me for it because he said it was a small job! 

Anyway ... back to the doctor ... A few days later I had reason to take the same elderly lady to the doctor's; and I met Doctor Grange again.

Although it was a fairly warm day, Doctor Grange wore a suit and tie.

However, he had not aged much since the previous Wednesday.

I kept an eye on him to ensure he remedies the situation.

That incident made me think about myself. What are my other prejudices regarding people? Their accents, the way they dress, the fact they have beards? No ... can't be that. I have a beard myself. Having a beard makes a person look distinguished. Maybe my prejudice is that I don't like people with no beards? Maybe everyone should have a beard? Including women.

What do you think?

21 comments:

  1. ...first I have a beard too, a long one. I think that it's important that you doctor, lawyer and accountant be younger than you are. I hate breaking in new ones!!!

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    1. People with beards are distinguished. Honest. Clever. And wise.

      Doctors, lawyers and accountants should never retire. They should be there for life. A friend of mine was very angry when his doctor died before him. Now he plans to be buried next to his doctor in case he needs him when he's dead too.

      God bless, Tom.

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  2. Dearest Victor,
    Yes, a lot of prejudice exists in this world!
    Let me tell you about a very funny incident some 35 years back. As you probably have figured out already, my Pieter has been a life long writer and so have I. Speaking seven languages, there hardly is any barrier. So I wrote columns for our local newspaper. Attending once a bible study at the local library, an elderly lady, when I entered, screamed out: 'There walks in the kid!'
    She confessed that by reading my writings she had imagined an older, wise lady... Haha, first of all my looks are not quite in line with my age, that's a rare genetic trait as I've not changed size since I was 15. My brains did change though and I gathered a lot of international experience. Everyone was laughing when I walked in.
    Oh, I've answered the door at our first home and got asked to call my Daddy! They too were thinking I was just the kid in residence...
    Enjoy your Sunday afternoon and thanks for the humorous way of telling your stories!
    Mariette

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    1. You are so lucky to have remained young all your life, Mariette. What a wonderful gift from the Lord.

      I was born old. When I was born the nurse looked at me and punched my father!

      God bless.

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  3. Many prejudices are based on experience and they should be paid attention to. I'll sit next to the man with a nice suit on a bus and avoid the dude with the face tattoo. Other prejudices are born of false fear of differences. These need to be tempered.

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    1. I agree about the experience you mention, JoeH. When I sit on the bus eating pickled onions and drinking beer people don't sit next to me. I think they are prejudiced about my beard.

      God bless, my friend.

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    2. To say I have to prejudices would be a LIE! But it is part of my being to try and understand and be more open. Judging another is unfair if we do not know them or their circumstances. Thank you for this post at a time whem prejudices are running rampant! Have a wonderful day!

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    3. True, we need to analyse and recognise where our prejudices stem from. Are they based on facts, past experiences, and truth ... or are they just sentiments based on fear and ignorance of the other man and his circumstances?

      God bless, Cathy.

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  4. You really made me think twice, maybe three times, about my own prejudices, Victor. We all have them, but the trick is to recognize them for what they are and to ask God to forgive us for jumping to conclusions just based on what another person looks like. We need the grace of Jesus to be gracious to one another.
    Blessings!

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    1. We are all prejudiced in some way or another, Martha. I guess, if we're honest, we are prejudiced about all those people who don't believe in God; who mock, Jesus, who allow things we don't agree with like abortions, euthanasia, neglect of the elderly and so on. Yes, we are prejudiced, yet ... the trick is to turn these prejudices into a power for good. We can start by praying for those people.

      God bless always, Martha.

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  5. Everyone has prejudices, we just have to be honest with ourselves and change our thinking and behavior. Once I shaved off my beard and my daughter, 2 yrs old at the time, didn't recognize me and started to cry. :)

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    1. Poor baby, you frightened her. When I shaved my beard the dog bit me. He thought I was an intruder.

      God bless, Bill.

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  6. Great point, Victor! I don't think anyone enjoys self-reflection ... and coming up short. In a perfect world? Yes, all my physicians would look like "Marcus Welby, M.D." and those who wear head garments and face coverings wouldn't be present in the same (airport) pre-boarding section as mine. (True story; I was SO apprehensive!)
    Assumptions and prejudices are wrong on so many levels, but how does one differentiate between their spidey senses and reason?

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    1. I think prejudices are usually the result of fear and ignorance of what we don't understand. Tattoos for instance. We feel that those who have them, especially on the face or neck, have a point to make to society, and therefore we avoid them as best we can. Another example: how would you feel if your doctor, or lawyer had a tattoo on his neck or an ear ring?

      My doctor had two ear rings - but I am no longer prejudiced. I did not mind her!.

      God bless, Mevely.

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  7. We all have prejudices of one kind or another. Knowing what they are, is the first step in changing.

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    1. Indeed Happyone. We need to be honest and identify our prejudices.

      God bless.

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  8. Science has shown that the moment we see another person, we make judgments about them within less than one second. That's the part of our brain that helps us know to run from danger that does that, The Almighty made it that way.

    Once we know the person is not a danger to us, we need to consciously suspend that judgment and get to know the person. There are untrustworthy and dangerous people out there, and we have to keep our eyes and hearts and minds open, and as long as we don't see any signs of that, set all of our preconceptions aside.

    It's not easy, but we can train ourselves to do that, and that's what i am trying, with the help and leading of the Holy Spirit, to do.

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  9. A wise friend once told me that we aren't responsible for the first thought, but we ARE responsible for the ones that follow.

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    1. Oh ... so many other thoughts follow in my head, Kathy. So many thoughts ...

      God bless my friend.

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