Have you ever been in a heated argument with someone over what they said about another person that they are denying? Sometimes it is so heartbreaking and even time wasting because the person who has made a demining comment or statement about another person does not want to accept the fact that he did say something against the other person. In recent times, we have seen or heard about how friends, families, communities or even countries go into war with each other because of what some has said about them. I guess you might be wondering why I chose to write about this today. The truth is that most of my articles are inspired by true-life events which I have witnessed or that I got firsthand information from an eyewitness. The reason for sharing these experiences is because I believe that we should learn from other people’s mistakes as humans, even though the experience may not be %100 similar, there is a tendency of getting a solution from them when one is faced with such a situation.
What I am about to say today is something you may have heard somehow either from other peoples articles or from an experience you had. I am moved to do this because there is a great need for us to understand that the life we live is not meant to be judged by our outward looks rather, we should be judged by our actions. This leads me to ask this question; do you judge the speed of a car just by its looks? While I was growing up, there was slang or should I say a mannerism we used back then. This mannerism is always boldly written on the body of some coaster buses and it says “do not judge me by my looks”. This may sound familiar to you, right? The reason why this statement is boldly seen on the body of the coaster buses is that the driver wants you to understand that you should not allow the rickety looks of the bus to deter you from boarding it to where you want to go. Do you now understand the rationale behind that inscription?
How have you misjudged People by Their Looks?
There was an incident that happened to me just last three days while I stepped out of the house to go get something’s from the market. I boarded a tricycle to convey me to the market. While the tri-cyclist was moving and looking for other passengers, he saw a lady who was dressed provocatively, this made the cyclist call my attention to it. I looked at what the man was complaining and truly speaking the lady in question was dressed in a manner that I can only use to describe a prostitute. As we were getting close to her, she waved the tri-cyclist to stop for her to join us. The tri-cyclist and I were the only people in the tri-cycle. This made him stop for the lady to join us and because we have already had a negative conception of the lady due to her dressing our attitude towards her became negative.
She greeted both of us the moment she entered the tri-cycle and at that instant, I felt different about her. It may interest you to know that more than %65 of passengers who boards the tri-cycle or a bus does not border to greet those passengers who are already seated. For the woman to greet us meant that she is a mannered individual and as if her greeting was not enough, she began to preach to both I and the tri-cyclist. This got us more confused and in the confusion, the tri-cyclist who was no longer comfortable with the whole thing voiced out a question which he directed to the lady. “What are you trying to do? How do you expect me to listen to whatever you want to preach about? Can’t you look at yourself or are you out to deceive men?” I practically had to cut the tri-cyclist short for him to stop. As he was asking these questions, I noticed something about the lady. She was just smiling while the man was asking all the questions which were a clear sign of disbelief and distrust to what the lady was about to say.
After a moment, the lady began to talk but this time she became more firm with her resolve to preach to us. Mind you, the tri-cycle was still on the move. The lady told us a story that got me feeling so sorry for judging her in the first instance. She told us that she would not blame us for thinking that she was a wayward lady because of her dressing. She said that she had a very terrible encounter with her uncle that morning who wanted to force her into having sex with her. In a bid to escape his grip she lost her outer cloak which covered her inner nightgown which she now escaped with. She said she was headed to her auntie’s house. When I heard her story I had more pity for her and this made me apologize to her for thinking that she was a prostitute. Now, imagine that this lady did not board the same tri-cycle with us, we would have both gone with the illusion that she is a prostitute without hearing her story and if for any reason I see her somewhere else, I would still have the same notion about her.
Conclusion
The taste of food is not known by its aroma rather it is known when eaten. So many times we have misjudged others because of their dressing or the way they looked. This has made a lot of us lose the opportunity of a lifetime because we did not give these people the chance to be the blessing they were meant to be. While you go about your business today, I will urge you to have a rethink that man, woman, boy or girl in your place of work whom you may have classified as a nobody due to his or her dressing or style of life. Always give others the room to prove themselves before you can judge them. Don’t forget that the taste of the pudding is in the eating.
I love you.
Wow!!! The taste of the pudding is indeed in the eating.
Nice write-up. I love this!!! We shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Thanks