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Lesson from an Unlikely Source

Do you judge a book by its cover? In other words, do you make up your mind about a person by their appearance?
I must admit, I used to think this way. In one of my previous employments, when we interviewed someone for temporary office work, they were immediately categorized as front or back office, depending solely on how they were dressed and presented themselves. I didn’t give this harsh method of classification a second thought until something happened to me a few years ago.
I was at Meadows Mall in Las Vegas with my husband Chris and our son. Derek was a baby at the time and we took turns pushing his stroller through the many walkways. I enjoyed the window shopping, Chris not so much and Derek was amusing himself by kicking his legs about.
It was in the morning and the mall wasn’t too crowded.  Some spots of the mall were downright deserted.   
As we were walking down a long hallway, we caught sight of a guy following us. His jeans were torn, chains were dangling from his belt and his hair was a spiky mess.  We turned the corner, and still he was trailing us. Also, he was calling out. My heart skipped a beat.  What was he up to? Was he going to take advantage of the quiet mall to rob us?
Defensively, my husband stepped in front of our son and me and stood his ground. I peeked over Chris’ shoulder. As the guy came closer, I saw he was a teenager, younger than what I had originally thought. Also, he was carrying a small tennis shoe in his tattooed hands.
“Excuse me, sir,” he addressed my husband. His voice didn’t match his demeanor at all. In fact, he sounded very polite. “I think you dropped this.”
 He handed Chris the miniature shoe. At that moment, we looked down at Derek. Sure enough, he was only wearing one tiny shoe.  Derek was very proud of this fact, as he wiggled his freed foot to us. We both thanked the youth as he jangled away.
Putting Derek’s shoe back on, I had a realization. What if Derek dresses like that when he becomes a teenager? I would be hurt if people judged and wrote him off simply by his clothes. I resolved at that moment not to fall into the convenient trap of making up my mind about a person by appearance only.
I watched the youth walk away and smiled. He was somebody’s baby once.   

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