Today in class (after I recovered from that horrible Jeep sighting) we talked a lot about attributions; judgements we make about people based on appearance. You know, like thinking someone’s dumb because they’re blonde, or thinking someone’s a jock because they’re in good shape, stuff like that. Presuppositions we make with no grounds about people. Stereotypes.
But I have to laugh right now, ’cause I’m being the biggest stereotype in the world. I’m totally into the coffeehouse scene. Part of it’s my addiction to coffee and any other form of caffeine, and part of it is just the atmosphere. The laid back, welcome feeling, something mellow spilling into the air from an XM station, and a bunch of funky granola artistic types hanging out and discussing philosophy and typing away at their laptops.
Oh, and it’s an unwritten rule…you have to have a Mac if you plan to look cool at a coffeeshop.
So here’s where I admit that, yes, I have a Mac. But it’s just funny how we follow these little subcultures like this. I mean, “don’t stereotype me as a writer/student…I’m just hanging out at a coffeeshop, sipping my white mocha and typing on my Mac…”
Incidentally, that’s exactly what I’m doing right now. Would it be revealing to say that the people who work at this coffeeshop know me by name? Hmmmm…
I think it’s because we want to identify with something. Whenever you’re meeting someone, how early in the conversation do you ask them what they do for a living? It’s because we identify people, at least in part, with what they do. We “attribute” certain behaviors and personality characteristics with certain types of occupations. Happens all the time. I find myself (too) eager to include my occupation in an introduction, because I’m proud of what I do. We want, for some reason, to be able to classify each other in some way, so, apparently, this is the way we choose.
Is it the right thing to do? Absolutely not. But I guess maybe we shouldn’t complain so much when we do so much to perpetuate the myth.