My sister’s a jewelry lady (she sells it with Premier Designs), and we were sitting around the lunch table one day when she mentioned that the other jewelry ladies say she should never leave the house without five or six pieces of jewelry on.
My knee-jerk-reaction (which, of course, I said out loud–will I ever gain control of my tongue?) was to say that I don’t like people who wear that much jewelry. I really can’t be friends with people who have so little style.
Not surprisingly, my dinner companions were aghast at my statement.
Really? I judge people that harshly?
One friend made a crack about her own lack of style, diffused the situation.
But the incident remained in my head, kept me asking myself why I reacted in that way.
The truth is, I sometimes (often?) have abominable style. How is it that I might hold others to a higher style-standard than I hold myself? Or do I really?
It took much rumination to get to the bottom of my reaction…but I think I finally figured it out.
My perception of people who wear tons of jewelry is that they’re trying really hard to be fashionable. I don’t try very hard to be fashionable. In fact, I regularly flaunt fashion and wear downright ridiculous apparel (particularly when I wear my pajamas to Bible study–a pink polo dress, white leggings underneath, a huge white sweater over top and fuzzy brown moccasins?)
When I see people that I perceive to be trying really hard, I presume that they would be embarrassed by me–so I never even give them a chance.
Sure, I’ll greet them when we’re introduced. I’ll say a nice hello. But I won’t really try to be their friend. If I see them in the hall, unless they approach me or somehow acknowledge me, I’m not going to acknowledge them.
I assume that I’d only mess up the image they’re trying so hard (and, in my opinion, failing) to project.
But is that really a fair assumption?
No. It isn’t.
That’s letting my flesh take preference over brotherly love. It’s petty prejudice and it’s ugly.
So, with my eyes now open to my own petty prejudices, I’m out to love the world–even the world who’s wearing five or more pieces of jewelry.