Open Mindedness
One thing that I look for in friends, boyfriends or anyone that I associate with, in general, is open mindedness.
I feel that this trait is something that many people say they are, but aren't. Just look at any online dating profile or single's ad or facebook profile, and you can see people claming to be "open minded." When it comes down to it...are you really??
Being open minded is something that is so crucial in today's world.
The incident that brings me to this topic isn't just one incident in particular, rather a series of incidents that continue to occur at my house with my mother.
My mother is a HARD CORE AMERICAN. She looks at tags of products to see if they are American-made before she buys them, she curses at foreigners and says that everyone living in the United States should learn English (among doing many other things).
I recall one particular incident when I was talking to my mother and asked her a simple question which ended in a vicious argument.
I asked, "You know how people from other countries are called (their country's name) American's. Like Egyptian Americans or African American or German Americans, etc. If someone were to leave the United States to go to live in another country, would they be American (whatevers). Like American Germans, or American English??"
Her response: "Who would leave America to go live somewhere else?"
I told her plenty of people would. I would go live in England or Germany or a handful of Western European countries.
What followed was an argument about how she thought the United States was the best country in the world and no body in their right minds would go live somewhere else because the United States is all-mighty and the best and no other country could possibly ever compare.
Then there was me trying to point out all of the faults of the U.S. (greediness, laziness, wanting to be world dominant, etc.) and saying that America may be a great place to live, but I don't think the people in many countries desire to be here. Granted, there are a large amount of people who want to leave their countries, which are less than us, but there are a good amount of people who are fine who they are and love their country.
Anyway, enough of that, you get the point.
What this (and many other incidents with my mother) has taught me is that even though my mother says she's open minded because she has friends from other countries, she isn't TRULY open minded. She can't look beyond her bubble of comfortable American life to see that there are good people in good countries living a good life -- possibly just as good of a life that we enjoy here, if not better.
She wouldn't go up to someone with a Jijab (Muslim head covering) and start up a conversation with them -- even though she claims she has no problem with Muslims.
The point of this post is that open mindedness is something so crucial in today's society because of the conflicts between races, genders, sexualities, ethnicities, etc. that instead of just saying your open minded, try practicing it.
Talk to someone who looks different, or talks different or does things differently. Befriend someone who isn't the "typical" person you would be friends with.
I love being friends with people of different cultures and races and religions. My belief is that if you never make the effort to talk with anyone who is different, how are you ever going to be comfortable with them? You won't. And if you're not expected to be comfortable with them...who will be? No one. And if this happens, our world will never grow. We'll just be a bunch of people walking around afraid of what's different.
I feel that this trait is something that many people say they are, but aren't. Just look at any online dating profile or single's ad or facebook profile, and you can see people claming to be "open minded." When it comes down to it...are you really??
Being open minded is something that is so crucial in today's world.
The incident that brings me to this topic isn't just one incident in particular, rather a series of incidents that continue to occur at my house with my mother.
My mother is a HARD CORE AMERICAN. She looks at tags of products to see if they are American-made before she buys them, she curses at foreigners and says that everyone living in the United States should learn English (among doing many other things).
I recall one particular incident when I was talking to my mother and asked her a simple question which ended in a vicious argument.
I asked, "You know how people from other countries are called (their country's name) American's. Like Egyptian Americans or African American or German Americans, etc. If someone were to leave the United States to go to live in another country, would they be American (whatevers). Like American Germans, or American English??"
Her response: "Who would leave America to go live somewhere else?"
I told her plenty of people would. I would go live in England or Germany or a handful of Western European countries.
What followed was an argument about how she thought the United States was the best country in the world and no body in their right minds would go live somewhere else because the United States is all-mighty and the best and no other country could possibly ever compare.
Then there was me trying to point out all of the faults of the U.S. (greediness, laziness, wanting to be world dominant, etc.) and saying that America may be a great place to live, but I don't think the people in many countries desire to be here. Granted, there are a large amount of people who want to leave their countries, which are less than us, but there are a good amount of people who are fine who they are and love their country.
Anyway, enough of that, you get the point.
What this (and many other incidents with my mother) has taught me is that even though my mother says she's open minded because she has friends from other countries, she isn't TRULY open minded. She can't look beyond her bubble of comfortable American life to see that there are good people in good countries living a good life -- possibly just as good of a life that we enjoy here, if not better.
She wouldn't go up to someone with a Jijab (Muslim head covering) and start up a conversation with them -- even though she claims she has no problem with Muslims.
The point of this post is that open mindedness is something so crucial in today's society because of the conflicts between races, genders, sexualities, ethnicities, etc. that instead of just saying your open minded, try practicing it.
Talk to someone who looks different, or talks different or does things differently. Befriend someone who isn't the "typical" person you would be friends with.
I love being friends with people of different cultures and races and religions. My belief is that if you never make the effort to talk with anyone who is different, how are you ever going to be comfortable with them? You won't. And if you're not expected to be comfortable with them...who will be? No one. And if this happens, our world will never grow. We'll just be a bunch of people walking around afraid of what's different.
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