A fairly dull book cover.
When we were young, my mother used this saying very often to suggest to her kids that we shouldn’t judge people solely on their appearance, because you never know what they are like inside.
In today’s “perception is reality” society, everyone’s life is only as good or bad as what they choose to post on Facebook. That friend of yours who just came back from a cruise in the Bahamas might be in debt up to his eyeballs and so stressed out he can’t sleep at night – but all you see is the photos of him stretched out on a white sand beach. The photos of many of the people on the covers of popular magazines have been airbrushed to within an inch of their lives, and yet we still think that the images are real and we, too, can obtain that ultra-slim waist or those fabulous biceps if we only work hard enough.
Online, we can eliminate people with the click of a mouse based on what we think of their photograph or biography. Some football teams, both at the college and pro levels, have found an efficient way to gain access to their players’ social media sites so that they can monitor their posts: set up a fake account with a photo of a pretty girl. Friend request accepted! We are so surrounded by our electronic gadgets that our attention spans shrink to the point where we don’t want to take the time to learn what’s inside the book. (Books, sadly, are another casualty of our short attention spans as fewer and fewer people take the time to read anything at all.) We simply do not allow ourselves to get past the cover.
When I go to the gym to work out I generally like to get in and get out without a whole lot of chatting. I know a number of people at my gym by sight, but for a long time I didn’t really have any friends at the gym. This changed about a year ago when I met a gentleman at the gym who came up and introduced himself as an attorney. He looked the part – like the kind of aggressive, hard-hitting person that you would want representing you. My first thought was, Why is this guy coming up to me? Do I look like I might need a lawyer?
Well, after the brief introduction we moved on and each continued our workouts. But over time, through small interactions each time we met at the gym, this attorney and I came to know each other quite well. It turned out that we had a lot in common: we went to the same high school, played college football, are life-long Redskins fans and share a passion for golf. He’s become a good friend and also a great source to consult whenever I have legal questions.
My point is I would not have known any of this from the first impression. I took the time to open the book and learn what was inside.
Inside that boring cover is a famous classic, “Vanity Fair”.
Have a great weekend,
Ro