Guilty of prejudging people

[PeteXXX]

Yesterday evening, in the entrance to the supermarket I drive for, I saw a couple of Hoodie & saggy assed tracky bottom wearing yoofs trot into the shop looking around in what I thought was a dodgy looked fashion.

My first thought? They're up to no good and maybe looking to grab a case or two of beer or something from the displays and leg it! (I've seen that done before...)

'Oi, mister...' shouted the larger lad, to a middle aged customer who turned round and looked a bit worried, 'You left your card in the cash machine!'
Almost before the chap could say thank you, they handed him his bank card, turned round and wandered out of the shop (with no beer)
Judging by the looks on other peoples faces, they misjudged the situation as well..

Guilty as charged!

 

[Fnaar]

Brings this old Grauniad advert to mind

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I think we are probably all guilty of stereotyping from time to time.

I do try hard not to but not always successfully.

 

[ArDee]

I think it the fault of the media they have poisoned peoples attitude to certain sectors of the population. With the amount of information in the papers at present means that the fear of crime is now much more than the actual amount of crime.
There's signs in shop windows "No more than 2 school children at a time"; while published figures show (sorry can't add reference link to data) that indicate school children are much less likely to shop lift that the normal public.

 

[Crackle]

You're just getting old when teens look menacing.

 

[Oldbloke]

Shortly after starting a new job many moons ago, a very shabbily dressed man with an atrocious wig turned up in my office.

Was about to eject this "vagrant", he then introduced himself. Director and multi-zillionaire co-owner of my company.

 

[Markymark]

I got an email at work from a Nigerian. My first assumption is that I was going to be scammed. How wrong I could be.

In fact if I'd ignored it I wouldn't be in line to get $100,000,000 from his dad's estate and then how stupid would I have looked!

 

[steve50]

Depends on the dress sense of the teens in question. I have noticed recently a lot of the young lads attending the local secondary school have adopted what I would describe as a '70's American high school look. Well groomed hair, school uniform topped off with American baseball style jacket, they look very smart indeed.
At the other end of the scale you get teens in jogging pants that hang halfway down their backsides coupled with a hoodie several sizes too big to give them that "gangster" look, I know which "look" I prefer.

 

[swee'pea99]

I think it the fault of the media they have poisoned peoples attitude to certain sectors of the population. With the amount of information in the papers at present means that the fear of crime is now much more than the actual amount of crime.
There's signs in shop windows "No more than 2 school children at a time"; while published figures show (sorry can't add reference link to data) that indicate school children are much less likely to shop lift that the normal public.

The saddest example of this I came across recently was hereabouts, when someone posted how he'd been befriended by a local lad for whom he'd fixed punctures, and who clearly wasn't getting much by way of family support, 'but as a 50 year old bloke living alone, I can't afford to have a young lad going round telling people I'm his 'best mate'...' Really, tragic. The red-tops have an awful lot to answer for, in the way they've encouraged the worst in society, and tainted the public arena with their bile.

 

[totallyfixed]

My better half gets misjudged quite often when out on her pink bike with no gears, male roadies tend to think she is an easy scalp. Gives me a chuckle anyway.

 

[hopless500]

Local cyclists round here think I'm fat and slow.




They are right.

Oi. Gimme my hat back

 

[bancrobba]

Coming from Liverpool, I'm sick of the assumption that I am a violent workshy thief ...

I'm gonna batter the next nobber who upsets me, then rob their wallet coz me giro hasn't come ...

 

[Mo1959]

Reminds me of a story my dad told me years ago. A farmer he knew went straight from working into a car showroom to look at cars with the view to making a purchase. The salesman glanced at this scruffy looking bloke wandering round looking at his lovely cars and ignored him for ages. Farmer eventually walked up to him and said "Well laddie, I suppose I looked too scruffy for you to waste your time coming to see what I wanted, but it was that brand new £20, 000 Volvo over there, but you have lost your sale now. Goodbye."

 

[Tin Pot]

There is nothing to feel guilty about.

 

[Globalti]

I had a Nigerian customer who looks quite, er, bush. The story went that he was at a trade fair eyeing a ballpoint pen making machine and when eventually the sales bloke got round to asking if he was interested in buying one, he was astonished to be asked to quote for twenty. The Nigerian is now a billionaire with a huge manufacturing empire and property all over London.