No matter who you are or where you’re located in the “social hierarchy”, we all have something(s) that we pride ourselves on and is prejudice towards.
As for me, I pride myself on the idea that I am an inclusive person and I act accordingly — I simply try as much as possible to include as many people in my life approach. In other words, I understand that I will always come across someone who is different than I am and on that basis, I try to understand them so that if we are to work together or if we are to occupy the same space (and perhaps at the same time), I know what I must do to make an effort to move forward without being particularly bothered by them — their thought processes and/or actions. If this presents itself as an impossibility, I take one of two approaches: I say something about it to the person(s) or I remove them or myself from the space if no adjustments are made.
Unfortunately, this is often a one sided, non-reciprocal approach. In a world that values a superiority complex or the desire to dominate — to “lead”, It is actually quite rare that I find someone who thinks and acts in a way that is not driven by “too much” of an ego. In other words, it is rare that I encounter someone without a toxic competitive streak. I really ought to question the spaces I navigate in my daily life.
I suppose this is where my prejudice manifests itself, revealing the inevitable paradox that characterize our lives. I find myself despising people who are not willing to “adjust” or who are not willing to consider others. The Inconsiderates or the Incompassionates — as I like to call them — (along with cooked pineapples) are a tremendous pet peeve of mine; I embrace it.
I will end by saying this, I pride myself on being not only inclusive (as much as possible) but also for being able to admit my prejudice as it is unproblematic and harms no one. As a matter of fact, the only possible thing that could be worse than having a prejudice, is denying the presence of it.
