Beauty and the Geek

Don't judge a book by its cover. Easy to say but often hard to do.

Every single day, consciously or subconsciously, we judge. We judge people we meet, strangers along the streets and even those seated around us. We judge the way they speak, what they wear and the depth of their conversations. We judge their sincerity of speech, by listening to their tone and pitches and we judge their hypocrisy, or not, by their actions. I am guilty as charged for judging. As much as I make it a conscious effort not to, I still, in some way, sum a person up.

This is probably one of the reasons why I'm so particular about first impressions, because you don't get a second chance at that. People will remember the first time they met you and the impression you gave them, no matter how brief the acquaintance, they WILL remember.

But my question is, what's the benchmark for all the judging? Do we categorize the people we meet according to the social categories of "Geek", "Nerd", "Hot Chick", "Bimbo" and what ever else there is? Here's my take on this.. Yes. I do categorize people by the first impressions they give me but trust me, they're not based on physical benchmarks. I don't particularly fancy judging people by appearances basically cause I don't have a baseline for beauty and it's true! (my friends can testify! They have since discounted my views for hot hunks).

So you may ask me, how then do I "judge" or categorise people? Well.. Basically, I trust my gut instincts. Whether it is telling me to flee from the person or whether it tells me to get to know the person better. For now, my instincts have yet to fail me. =) I'm glad.

Above all that, I believe we shouldn't judge a person just based on looks. What's making me blog about this? Well.. I caught re-runs of Beauty and the Geek and I felt so bad for one of the contestants. The "Geeks" had a make over and were put up for auction. So there was this one particular guy, well.. let's just say he's on the heavier side, but he is a fantastically funny shy guy, with the nicest and most adorable personality and.. no surprises, he got the lowest bid!

So here's the point of this blog. Do we judge people just at face value. How thin/slim/skinny, pretty/beautiful/hot, hunky/muscular/fit, handsome/charming/good looking and well.. it goes on. Am I guilty of this? In all honesty, I think at times, I do, but that said, I do make it a conscious effort to see beyond physical appearances and attractiveness. I believe everyone was made to be beautiful and special, especially if we see it through God's eyes. If God could love us for our many imperfections, why can't we try to love others too?! Right?

Oh well.. Beauty and the Geek served as a good reminder, to see beyond the looks and stereotypes and to appreciate the person beneath all that skin deep beauty.