People Unlike Me|Kimberly Bennett

I was in Wal-Mart the other day, as I often am. I was waiting in line behind a couple that didn’t seem to know how to use the self check out. As I was standing there, wondering when it would be my turn in line, I saw the tell tale signs of what had been described to me as a polygamists family. There was the father, two young girls and a woman about the same age as the father. They had the old school clothes and big "Utah Poufs". I thought that they seemed subservient, and a little frightened. They certainly didn't seem happy. Until this morning I was thinking that they must have felt afraid and unhappy in their existence. Then as I was gathering some books the family popped into my head. I thought that maybe they weren't unhappy in their life; maybe they were just unhappy being in Wal-Mart. It's a lifestyle that I think of so abhorrently, but maybe not everyone does. For all I know, while I'm looking at them thinking "how could they live like that?" they might be thinking the very same thing about me. It's not a life style I endorse, but I don't really have a right to judge what they are feeling. Maybe instead of just watching them like they are different, I should just treat them like anyone else. Instead of watching them like they are odd, I should see them as people. If I don't let my prejudices get in the way of what I think is going on I might just actually learn something.