Rejection

We all are rejected at one time or another. We've all been dumped by a boyfriend or girlfriend. We've all been turned down when we ask for a date. Had a friend turn around and say you're not their friend any more.

Why do we reject others in society? Is it because they're not good enough? Not attractive enough? Not rich enough? Not Our Kind, Dear?

Who are worthy of being accepted and who are inferior and are rejected?

I've rejected a lot of people. Some intentionally, some not intentionally. Every day we make choices. We pick over fruit, vegetables, clothes... But most often we make choices about people in a split second. We choose to flash a smile to some stranger, and warm them. We choose to turn away from someone else and leave them cold. How much of it is random? How much of it is subconscious bias?

How diverse is the population you're exposed to on a daily basis? Not just racially or religiously. What about people who are wealthier or poorer? What about people who are thinner or fatter? Men, women... Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transvestites... People with disabilities, diseases, afflictions. Different cultures, different values, different ways of life. Most of us don't go out of our way to expose ourselves to where we're not in our comfort zone and we shortchange ourselves.

We're a cruel and indiscriminate bunch, us people of the world. We create false subsets of people in order to categorize them to make it easier to judge one's worthiness. Yet each of us is an individual, with individual experiences, individual views, individual needs. How can we treat someone as anything else other than someone unique? Yet they're categorized and judged, accepted or rejected, based upon whatever external worth we might place upon them.

Who is more worthy and who is less?

I'm certainly as guilty as anyone else. Sad, but something I hope to change. And something I hope to change in my son.