I Admit My Faults When I Realize Them
A friend stopped by to say hello to me. We both had been to the festival down the road that day and started talking about the strange people we saw there. I mentioned I saw what looked like a woman in a dress at first glance but was actually a man. We went on about the strangeness of it for a moment before moving on to a different subject.
Later that night I went back to the festival for a concert. I was with my daughter, my mom, and my mom's friends. We saw the man dressed as woman and made knowing looks to each other.
Hours after the concert I'm back at home and everyone has gone to bed. The TV is on. I dont usually watch it but I do sometimes. A documentary is on. They are showing a little 7 year old that is treated unfairly at school because she I think was a boy but has the mind of a girl. She now goes to a better school that understands children like her and welcomes the diversity. The show went on to show a woman who use to be a man and came out at work which made her lose her job...
I've learned my lesson. Hopefully I can make amends by not treating them as something odd to stare at and put a stop to anyone around me who does by educating them and by showing those same people that I accept everyone for whoever they are or who they want to be.
I was in the wrong and it didn't take much education to change a perspective I've had most my life. It amazes me to think how simple it is to label someone or something we know nothing about. I didn't give much thought to it but the little bit of thought I had put towards it had a huge negative effect. I was perpetuating an intolerant attitude about something I knew nothing about. What seemed not that big of a deal to me was actually part of a problem so big and damaging that the victims of it have a life expectancy of 35 years. I was a part of that! My daughter saw me do it too which makes me realize I need to explain to her how I was wrong.
I can be such an idiot sometimes. My only consolation is that I can realize my mistakes when they become apparent and make a change that counts.
Later that night I went back to the festival for a concert. I was with my daughter, my mom, and my mom's friends. We saw the man dressed as woman and made knowing looks to each other.
Hours after the concert I'm back at home and everyone has gone to bed. The TV is on. I dont usually watch it but I do sometimes. A documentary is on. They are showing a little 7 year old that is treated unfairly at school because she I think was a boy but has the mind of a girl. She now goes to a better school that understands children like her and welcomes the diversity. The show went on to show a woman who use to be a man and came out at work which made her lose her job...
I've learned my lesson. Hopefully I can make amends by not treating them as something odd to stare at and put a stop to anyone around me who does by educating them and by showing those same people that I accept everyone for whoever they are or who they want to be.
I was in the wrong and it didn't take much education to change a perspective I've had most my life. It amazes me to think how simple it is to label someone or something we know nothing about. I didn't give much thought to it but the little bit of thought I had put towards it had a huge negative effect. I was perpetuating an intolerant attitude about something I knew nothing about. What seemed not that big of a deal to me was actually part of a problem so big and damaging that the victims of it have a life expectancy of 35 years. I was a part of that! My daughter saw me do it too which makes me realize I need to explain to her how I was wrong.
I can be such an idiot sometimes. My only consolation is that I can realize my mistakes when they become apparent and make a change that counts.
