FIRST IMPRESSIONS

There are occasions when we have a feeling or an opinion about something.  We may think that, just off the top of our head, something seems unfair.  Take the example of parking spaces.  You see someone who gets out of a car in a handicapped parking space who appears perfectly normal. You wonder or have an impression or a feeling that makes you question why does this person have that parking space? You notice the person alights from the car fully intact and completely ambulatory, no cane, walker or crutches. You might even question the legitimacy of their having a handicapped permit.

One day, we parked in a space directly next to a handicapped parking space.  Sitting in the front passenger’s seat, I looked out of my window and directly on my right side, I saw a big white van parked in that handicapped parking space.  Momentarily, the door of his driver’s side opened and I saw a man drop what looked like a fire worker’s boot on the pavement.  Then, he let his left leg without a foot, descend into the boot and he walked away. 

That experience awakened my senses and helped me realize how much more perceptive I need to be in making impressions that sometimes are not really accurate, adequate, justifiable, or fair.  It was a good lesson in humility.  As the saying goes,

 “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”