How much do you really know about strangers?

We've all been introduced to a stranger before and the first question we ask is "what are you" or "what do you do?"  Depending on what frame of mind I was in and where I was at in my life at the time, I've been or done a million different things. Okay, maybe not quite a million, but nine times out of ten my answer would always be whatever my job title was at the time. I bet you're still sitting there thinking about the last person you met and trying to decide if they would be what you would call a stranger. Contrary to what you were taught as a kid, not all strangers are bad people.

Is it human nature to want to put everything into a category?  For example, I asked a lady the other day "what do you do for a living?" Her answer was "I'm a stay at home mom." Instantly I started thinking about another stay at home mom I know and thought this lady must be just like her, but the reality is they are nothing alike.  I know a stay at home mom who is a crack head.  Lucky for this lady, I know more than just one stay at home mom.

I can't tell you how many people that I've had conversations with "in my un-biker clothes" that compare every biker they've ever seen in real life to the ones they've seen on T.V. in Gangland because they don't actually know any bikers. There was one old lady in particular that about peed her pants after I told her my ole man was in a motorcycle club. For the record, don't believe everything you see on T.V.  It's like I told her, advertising is their income.  The more people they can get to watch the shows, the more money they can charge for commercials. Without commercials there wouldn't be any T.V. shows, much less the nightly news.

I've walked into Wal-Mart hundreds of times. Okay, maybe more like thousands of times, but everytime I walk in there depending on what I'm wearing I get a different reaction.

The night I wore this most everyone smiled at us.

The day I wore this people were indifferent.

But let me walk into Wal-Mart like this, women pull their husbands closer, mother's grab their children's hands telling them to stay out of my way, elderly men and women that take ten minutes to get across the parking lot in front of you suddenly get a burst of energy and zoom by in a hurry to get as far away from you as possible and the only people that smile at you are babies. I rarely wear makeup and I have really long hair.  I'm willing to bet if I walked in there with a skirt on most everyone would assume I'm pentecostal.

The truth of it all is you have to get to know someone on a personal level, not just make assumptions based on who they hang around. My ole man and I were involved with the Christian Motorcycle Association for a short time.  We met some people at one of the functions and were invited over to their house several times. Come to find out they were not anything like the kind of person I would expect to be in a club like that.  With that said though, there are a handful of friends we have that are part of that club that while I don't agree with everything they do, I will love them dearly forever.

It all boils down to, if you meet a stranger let your heart be your guide and don't believe everything you see on T.V.