Impressions

Or maybe, I should say first impressions! The first fifteen seconds of the first meeting with someone new can give them an opinion of you that may last a lifetime. Just last night I overheard someone say that they didn’t like a person because of that person’s type! I did not understand what that “type” thing was, but it had to make a strong impression on the one that spoke those words. I did not understand how one person could be that opinionated of a person before that other person could say one word. Some could call impressions a form of segregation. Sadly some of the impressions and opinions we create are brought on by us. We bring them on ourselves by not looking at ourself before others do and as others do! Many have expressed to me that they could not understand why other people treated them the way they do. Could it be that they cause that impression of you to be negative? Other times we can create those bad impressions by the way they dress or our manner of speech. A person that uses a lot of “street talk” will be judged as one with a lesser education or one with a lower opinion of themselves. They have allowed themselves to be placed in the “those people” category by others. I feel extra sorry for Black People, for they have been segregated and held down for centuries. The thing that hurts me the most is that so many of the black kids, the ones we worked so hard to give equality and opportunities to, now think it is their thing to dress differently and to speak differently. And, many of our younger black kids think that their education is something to be played with or even tossed away. They must realize that many sweated blood and many were beaten so that those same kids could have a good education and many who helped them get to where they are today are heart- broken to see that education disrupted and dropped out of. Freedom is not to drop out of, it’s to work with, and it’s learning and making use of that learning! It’s being a part of! As most know, I ask questions of many. A few weeks ago I asked a young kid what he wanted to be when he grew up. His answer shook me all the way to my shoe-soles. His answer was; “why should I plan anything after I grow up? By that time I will either be dead or in prison”! Sadly, there was no emotion in his answer, he was just stating fact! I ask myself how could it be possible for a nice looking young kid like that to think there was no future. He acted as if his life was a throw away. He acted as if he had no future and no place to go if he had one! It seemed to me that he had the impression of himself that he was lost and no willingness to change that impression! Looking back today, I realize how much my impression of me has changed. Then as I look around, I notice that the impression of me, reflected in the eyes and attitude of my friends and family has also changed. Maybe all of those impressions, the snap, the changing, and even those we think are lasting are nothing more than how we live our lives. That life that’s ever-changing. Could all those impressions be nothing more than our judging others as well as ourselves?