Today I am wearing a black t-shirt. In Australia and New Zealand, a black t-shirt can mean that you are a bogan. According to Wikipedia, a bogan is slang in the aforementioned countries for a person whose speech, clothing, attitude and behaviour are considered unrefined and unsophisticated.
(First of all, I'm not exactly sure what unrefined and unsophisticated means. Of course to some people telling the truth is considered unrefined. So what do I know?)
Just to make it more understandable for some of you, the equivalent of bogans in other countries would be Chav in the United Kingdom and Redneck or White Trash in the United States of America.
One of the tell-tale signs of a bogan is the wearing of black t-shirts. Does that make me a bogan today? I don't think so. I'm just a guy writing a blog post in a member's library wearing a black t-shirt. But in New Zealand and Australia it could mean that they are a bogan.
I suppose the Japanese equivalent would be Yanki. These people are usually young while bogans could be all ages.
Anyway, my point today is why do we judge people by what they are rather than who they are as a person?
How many times have you heard that this guy or that guy is a high-powered lawyer or something similar and made judgement on them and then found out they a complete wanker? I'ms are we have all done it. We made a judgement on what they are rather than who they are. Sure, he or she may have got to his position because they are a wanker but does that mean that we should respect them as a person? No!
I know a company I visit on a similar regular basis there are a couple of employees there who I would say are the proverbial chalk and cheese. One is very nice to me and helps me out whenever I ask and there are no questions ask. The other one has judged me for what I am and that person won't even look at me or acknowledge my presence. That person's loss I suppose.
I today's society we seem to be interested in titles as opposed to people's names. I'm sorry Japan you are guilty of this. That person sitting furtherest away from the door has a name and I'm sorry for criticising culture here but your parents didn't name you section-chief or company president or teacher. Maybe they wanted you to become these in the future but they did give you a name and surely the best respect is having someone use your name not calling you general manager or division-chief.
Judge people for who they are as a person not what they are.
By the way, what do you think of my black t-shirt?
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