Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions


Today I was at Hobby Lobby, I highly enjoy walking around looking at the sales and getting ideas for my home, generally you do not see many men in the store. Today there was a man there who was helping his fiancĂ©e with table arrangements for their wedding. The couple was excited and had another person with them possibly a family member, however the comments continually came from the lady who was their wedding planner. She would make comments about how she couldn’t believe that he would be interested in something like this or would not listen to his input on the situation. I found myself lingering wanting to stick up for this man. After three to four off hand comment the bride caught one and told her “I am a lucky one to caught a man who puts us first”. I wanted to high five her. I could see his whole demeanor change after his bride to be defended him. I wanted to tell him props for caring and wanting to be a part of the process, however I smiled the other person with them saw me and smiled back as I walked away.


I find that through this observation we need to be continually reminding ourselves to get to know those around us and be careful with the words we saw. Being aware of what others are going through in important to know why they are doing what they are doing. In this case today it was a man showing the woman of his dreams that he loved and supported her. Did he care about those floral arrangements and the colors possibly, but more than likely he wanted to be there to show her he loved and supported her.

3 comments:

  1. Awww....This made me smile throughout reading it.

    Stephanie, you are right, we do need to get to know a person and be careful of what we say around them. In this case the bride-to-be was aware of her future husbands's thoughts and actions. Sometimes, people can be so focused on an agenda rather than building a relationship or rapport.

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  2. Angela,

    Your post is very interesting! First of all, it is essential to limit our words, respect other's decisions and beliefs. So, we do not end up offending others with hidden microaggression comments.

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  3. Stephanie,
    It is amazing to me how we put certain groups into a box. Men can be supporters of their family without it being such an issue. Yes there are some who could care less but all are not like that. We should remember that each person is an individual and should be known as such.

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