First Impressions.

              First impressions. They're everything. They are what shape you in another person's eyes, & it's hard to change that view. Like me, you look at me and think "she's the quiet type", until I open my mouth, that is.

             Many times, first impressions are based on stereotypes. No matter how hard some of us try to not judge, it comes naturally, that human instinct to judge. You see a black man walking down the street wearing baggy jeans & gold jewelry, and most people think thug. How do we know he's not an honest businessman with eclectic fashion sense? Or when we see a blond wearing a miniskirt and all those hilariously offensive dumb blond jokes spring into our minds? For all we know, she could be a straight A student at Harvard.

            What I wonder is, looking at the situation of Muslims in America, what do people think when looking at a Hijabi (a woman who covers her head & wears modest clothing)? Do they see the oppressive woman that the media always portrays us as? Or do they see a respectable strong woman who isn't allowing herself to be a slave to fashion gurus of the world?

           Whatever you see, it's important for all of us-including myself- to remember something. Despite the fact that in this world today, it's the image that counts, that image isn't everything. There might  be something deeper, because we are so quick to judge, we will never know. And another thing: first impressions can, and most often, are wrong.