Contributed by: Jet on Monday, November 15 2010 @ 11:34 am
Last modified on
Recently I visited Las Vegas. While I was there, some friends of mine decided to play a game where they attempted to scan the crowd and identify, shall we say, escorts. It proved to be more difficult than they had thought, as many people get dressed in their “party clothes” in Vegas.
I noticed, however, that my friends relied heavily on stereotypes and snap judgments as they made their assumptions. “He seems old enough to be her grandfather.” “Those two just don't 'match' in attractiveness.” “I can't imagine what those two have in common, so there must be something else going on there.”
It makes me wonder how many of those same snap judgments make their way into our own lives, our own relationships. How often do we choose not to email or talk to someone because we think they might be out of our league? How often do we pass someone by because we think they're too old or too young? Perhaps the very reason my friends formed their stereotypes – “these two just don't go together” – is simply because we all reinforce those notions in our own actions, every day.
The next time you're perusing online profiles, think about emailing just one person who falls out of your personal box. It doesn't have to be someone completely out of left field (but then again, why not?). Try expanding the age range in your search, or just emailing the one that has you on the fence every time. Who knows what might come of it?
In the meantime, I know I'll bear in mind that every relationship out there is unique. Forming snap judgments – assuming everything will look just like it does in the movies – is exactly why it can be so difficult to recognize potential love when we stumble across it. Perhaps if we keep our eyes open just a little wider, we'll find new opportunities.