Social Stereotypes, do they mean anything?

One of my friends had a sever toothache last winter and the pain was unbearable. But despite her teeth-gritting-pain, my cousin’s sense of humor kept her laughing.

“How come?” remarked my cousin. “I thought it is only our teeth that an insect can permeate.”

“Why? What do you mean?”

“I had this feeling that people working in the hospital do not get sick. The medicine odor would kill all the germs before they enter your body.”

We all smiled. But I hesitated a bit here. Just because my friend is nurse, should her teeth be immune to ‘insects’?

But that is definitely something to reflect on.

Don’t we always carry these stereotyped notions? Almost always! And I believe it is a common feature of our society. But sure, people have right to stereotype too. One of these days, I am really getting to know about rights.

So, an employee of a bank must have his purse full all the time. Because the bank is a reservoir of all moneys! And people who work in Bhutan Power Corporation will have good electricity supply for free. By the same token, those working in Road Safety and Transport Authority are good drivers and employees of Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan are fully insured, head to toes. And finally if you are relatives or friends of policemen, you commit no crime. The list is endless.

Stereotyping is an assumption we all make about others, either seriously or casually. And unless we correct some social defects by doing that, the act itself carries not much meaning.

But I still wonder, what if I am a millionaire working in a bank, whose sister works as a nurse, a brother in BPC, a wife in RSTA, a grandmother in RICB and a father police? That would be one fulfilling life isn’t it?