People Watching.

As I sit in Starbucks, I first notice a girl that has similar taste then I personally do. She wore Nike leggings; Nike shoes and an Oregon black zip up that has a green O on the chest. She generally just looks like an athletic person, which is why I think I noticed her first. She has strawberry blond hair that is put up in a straight ponytail. She doesn’t look much taller then 5’4 and is around 20 years old I would guess.

Looking at her appearance and what she where’s I assume she probably is on a sports team just like me, and most likely is more like me when it comes to culture and religion. Dressing like the way she did, I assume like me that she is hard working, dedicated and fit. She looked fit and toned which makes me think she is an athlete. She was also eating carrots and rice cakes with peanut butter, which are all healthy snacks, which makes me assume she watches what she eats. Her face expressions make me think she is laid back and easy going because she seemed like she was laughing at everything. In general I don’t really think any of these are bad assumptions to have. I think since I categorize myself with her so I am not assuming the worse. But I think some people might assume, skinny, really healthy eating= anorexic. Which is an awful stereotype to put on someone I think.

The next guy that I saw, he was sitting next to me reading the newspaper, looked like it was politics. This tells me that he likes to keep up with society and today’s news. This also tells me that he seems knowledgeable and enjoys being educated. He was an older guy and I assume he is around his 40’s. He has a watch on that looks pretty expensive, along with a nice suit, shoes and slicked back hair. His appearance makes him look like he is a successful man and a well off person. I would most likely think he is Rich and has tons of money, but I think that’s just a typical stereotype people have. I think he is similar to me in a way, because he seeks education and he obviously works hard at what ever he does. I realize that all of these assumptions are based on all of what he is wearing.

I see a Caucasian college male, probably nineteen or twenty years of age, rummaging through his stuff frantically trying to find something. From his posture and what he is wearing I can tell that he values a laid back lifestyle. He appears to be wearing a ‘golden state’ jersey so I am assuming he is from a stable middle class family from somewhere in California. Also, from what I can infer about his speech, he much also value education and seeks a higher quality of life. Due to the aforementioned basketball jersey as well as the backwards hat, I’m assuming he may be an inconsiderate jerk despite his alarming vocabulary. Granted I’m using mostly physical features to build this stranger’s character shows that I value general stereotypes that my peers might notice as well. In retrospect, I’ve come to realize that we, as a society, fall back on stereotyping complete strangers.

There are so many different assumptions and stereotypes to have, some are better then others. Its crazy to see how by just looking at one person for a little while what you can come up with or figure out about them. But in general, I don’t think its right that people judge people by only there appearance.