I do judge people sometimes.. unconsciously.. I know it's wrong.. I do stereotype people sometimes.. unconsciously.. and I know it's just so wrong.
At work, I usually observed large groups of people, not an individual. I was surprised of how similar people from the same regions, races, classes, occupations or cultures, would behave. It ever made me believe that "there is an reason why stereotypes are formed". And it's an understandable yet absolutely shallow statement.
There was once, I did translation for a missed-flight Vietnamese girl. She was an alright-looking girl, with a strong Southern Vietnam accent, dressed in a tiny skirt and ridiculous high heels. As I secretly and mentally scanned her.. I came to a conclusion "typical country-side, come here for easy money". I was partially right. She was in Singapore to transit to Brunei, where she gonna be a fancy foreign prostitute.
She missed her connecting flight, so I walked her to a different terminal to purchase a new ticket to Brunei. Along the way, we talked. I remembered I was not a pleasant person that day, I was a cranky little butt, complaining non-stop about work and shits. But she was nice, so much nicer than the outfit she wore and so much nicer than me. She started a convo with me by a number of questions, how long I have been living here, where I studied, which part of Vietnam I am from.. I answered her with no interest of maintaining the conversation. Slowly she shared her story. She knew what is waiting for her in Brunei but she found herself given no choice. Back there in Vietnam, her husband, a blue-collar worker, was bedded due to an accidence, while her 1-year-old son got a serious illness. They had literally sold everything just to survive. My heart shrunk as she turned to me and said "I just wish to have a life like yours".. Gods know, I got myself one of the most shameful yet awaken moments of life.
We would not compare lives, as everyone have their own struggles. But am I gonna tell that girl.. "I wish to have a life like yours"?.. hell no right.. the girl who I judged, got me a lesson of life.. and I got her a ticket back to Vietnam instead of Brunei.
For every single matters, there are thousands of angles, I don't try to say anything big here, just want to note down a lesson of life.
As this is a lengthy wording post, so here are a few pictures of Sapa, Vietnam for you to de-stress:) thank for reading it that long:) Cheers!
