Never Judge a Book By Its Cover
There is an old saying that you should never judge a book by its cover. This means that you shouldn’t judge someone based on what they look like on the outside. Many people say that they try to live by this motto, but unfortunately, many people don’t. There are plenty of judgmental people in the world who will judge others by the way they look. Andy Ross was a victim of one of these people.
Typical Shopping Trip
For Andy, it was a typical shopping trip to his local grocery store. He had been working a lot lately and he just barely had time to get to the supermarket. Andy worked in the construction business, and he knew that he was filthy, but his refrigerator and cupboards were bare. He figured that he could pull off a quick trip and still get home in time to make some dinner and relax. He never expected that his shopping trip would be so eventful.
A Young Girl
When Andy was shopping, he noticed that there was a young girl watching him. The look on her face told him that she was afraid of him and that she completely disapproved of him. Andy didn’t think too much of it. He was dirty, his short sleeve shirt was filthy, and his tattoos were showing. He assumed that the young girl was sheltered and she didn’t know any better.
The Checkout Line
When Andy made it to the checkout, he discovered that the lines were very long. He needed food, so he was willing to wait a while. He took out his phone, checked a few emails, and sent a text to his friend. When he looked up from his phone, he realized that the woman and her daughter were in line right in front of him. The girl seemed to be hiding behind her mother, staring at him. The mother used this as a teaching opportunity for her daughter, but it wasn’t the type of teaching opportunity that you would expect.
Rude
The woman looked up at Andy; then she leaned down to her daughter. Andy wasn’t sure if she was trying to be quiet when she spoke to her daughter or if she was so rude that she wanted him to hear it. When she leaned down, she said, “That is why you should stay in school.” Andy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How dare this woman
What To Do?
At that moment, Andy didn’t know what to do. He could have either ignored the woman and let her be ignorant, or he could tell her exactly how he felt. He decided that if he kept quiet, her daughter would learn that it’s okay to treat people this way and to judge them by the way they look. He decided that it was up to him to speak up. After a lady insulted him, this hardworking man had the best response.
Andy’s Response
Andy was angry, so he looked directly at the woman and told her that he had a high school education. In fact, he also had a college education. He told her that his appearance that day was proof that he was a hardworking man. He told her that he saw her judging him for his tattoos. He let the woman know that tattoos are an excellent form of creativity. He told her that by making her daughter think that tattoos were wrong, that she would stifle her creativity when she got older. He was very angry.
Shock
The woman looked at the man in shock. She couldn’t believe that he called her out on what she said. As Andy spoke, she didn’t say much to him. Even after he finished speaking, the woman had nothing to say. Clearly, Andy put her in her place.
When Andy got home, he was still pretty angry about the way that the woman had acted. He decided to create a post on Facebook about the woman’s rotten behavior in the store. It wasn’t long before his post went viral. People from all over the world were sharing and commenting on his post. Most people believed that Andy was absolutely right for calling the woman out for what she said. Almost all of the comments were positive. Andy wasn’t the only one who was appalled by the woman’s behavior.
Ignorance
You can only hope that this woman saw the post. She needed to see again how ignorant she was being and that she was teaching her daughter the wrong lessons. When you judge a person by the way they look, nine out of ten times you will be wrong.
