Smashing Stereotypes
Ray and I arrived in Los Angeles yesterday afternoon with our co-worker Donna. The Southwest plane we flew on was packed, as we say, to the gills with a person in every seat. Ray and I each ended up in a center seat with his seat in the row behind me. My row mates were an older Christian man, whose wife was sitting across the aisle from him (I’ll call him Bob) and a young single woman traveling alone (I’ll call her Rachel).
During the first part of the flight, Bob and I talked about church experiences and Christian growth. I was blessed to hear about his well-thought-out and firmly-held convictions. Bob is from Philadelphia and spent decades working in Los Angeles in IT. He and his wife spent several years in New York state to be near their grandchildren while they were young. Now that those grandchildren are teenagers, Bob and his wife have moved to Nashville to be near other grandchildren while they are young. Their mission on this trip is to be a blessing to their son-in-law whose father just died and whose funeral is here in California.
As we neared Los Angeles, Bob showed me the high-rise buildings downtown and told me he used to work in one of those. This godly, devoted grandpa did not fit the stereotype of someone who works in one of those high-rise buildings in one of the world’s largest cities.
At the beginning of our flight, the young woman next to me was using earbuds and seemed unapproachable. I saw no indication that we would connect at all, but not long into our flight, the earbuds came out and one of us — I don’t really know which one — started a conversation which continued almost non-stop all the way to LA. We must have talked for three hours or so.
When Rachel learned I was involved in homeschooling, she wanted my card. Having served as a nanny and tutor in the U.S., in Israel, in France, and in other countries, she believes in homeschooling. If she ever has kids, she plans to homeschool. I was impressed with Rachel’s enthusiasm, her compassion, and her work ethic.
When meeting a new person, you naturally ask where they call home. Rachel didn’t exactly have a home when we sat side-by-side yesterday. She had left her home in New York City, stopped in Nashville to visit with a sibling, and was on her way to LA to become a movie star. Rachel has wisely saved up a good nest egg and made concrete plans for how to live and survive in LA. This bright young woman did not fit the stereotype of the girl who goes to Hollywood to become a movie star.
As homeschoolers, let’s go out there and smash some stereotypes and, while we’re at it, let’s not pigeonhole anybody either.
Do not judge, and you will not be judged;
and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned;
pardon, and you will be pardoned.
Luke 6:37
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