Beyond Opinion

One of the songs I heard at SUUSI this year was johnsmith's "Don't Put Me in a Box". In the song, John urges us not to put him in a box. He says don't put me in a blue box, don't put me in a red box, a white box, a black box, a straight box, a gay box, and so forth. I can see the reason for this. If I say someone is a black, or that he is an INTJ, or that he is gay, than that will affect my and other people's behavior toward them. For example, people will believe that the INTJ can solve any problem, and that the gay man cannot possibly be attracted to a woman.

But I remember when I took the class with him that one other attendee was Sharon Robles, a South Carolina singer. How can I tell that my leader is johnsmith, and not Sharon Robles? Well, he is male, for one thing. OK, there I go. I just put him in a male box. (no postage or pun intended) Unless I can put people in boxes, and things in boxes, how can I tell things apart? If everyone's the same, then there are no different people. There is no way to tell apart Mae West from Dick Cheney, and that would be a sad world indeed. Having everyone be treated the same is OK only so far, until everything becomes a muddle. It is actually people's uniqueness that makes them interesting.

So bring back the boxes. Only don't disadvantage or disfavor people because of these boxes. Everyone is to be celebrated, and everyone is unique.