Photo by mentatdgt from Pexels
I was needing some American comfort food today during my lunch break. I chose a decent local burger joint that happened to be inbetween a chinese food place, and a thai food place. Being able to see the workers clearly in all three places, I particularly noticed a certain asian lady's face. It struck me at that moment; do I trust this american man more, subconsciously even, because I'm more familiar with his face?
The thought poured out even more - Do I trust his thought processes, his methodologies, more; simply due to the notion that I am american, and assume I know something about this man because I know something about myself?
What is the line when it comes to cultural differences? Facial structure, skin tone, those are the obvious ones. What about this lady? Would she approach a problem to be solved differently based off her nationality alone? I don't know. But I was more aware that an individual is unique and how we process thoughts is unique. Genetics, nurture and nature all sculpt us into who we are and how we think. Its important to stay open to get to know people as individuals, and try to be aware of our own broad sweeping prejudices we may be holding on to, perhaps without recognizing we are even doing it.