STEREOTYPES

I can't tolerate them. They are simply shallow. They are exclusionary. They are erroneous.

Whether predicated on religion, race, origin, education, weight or height, occupation or avocation, if you think you can categorize or pigeon hole individuals (the operative word), then you are going to be disappointed when your expectations do not match up with actuality.

So is a universal truth a stereotype? Huh? How many different snowflakes did researches study before they announced no two are alike? What if one year there were two or four or six just alike? Or do they have anyone who periodically checks those things?

What about fingerprints? How do we know that no two are alike? They say everyone has a double. Just two weeks ago at our son's church, a member asked me if I wasn't the guy who got baptised two weeks ago. Then when she realized "Oh no, your Scott's dad!" she was somewhat embarrassed. I don't know if she ever found that handsome guy she was looking for, but when I scanned the crowd, I saw no one similar looking to me. But who's to say there's not someone somewhere that has identical prints? Or DNA?

It wasn't all that long ago that we knew relatively little about that molecule. Now people are doing the time for leaving some molecular id at the scene. But what if the stereotype is wrong? Ok, maybe it's a push to call it that. What if the basic premise is wrong? Just look at global warming. Real or imagined? Accurate or doctored?

Maybe these same researcher scientists were the same who used to suggest to doctors that they have their overweight patients take up smoking. Who could know?

But I have my doubts about no two snowflakes.