Hi! 🥰 Welcome back to Grace’s blog 🥳 thank you for being consistent and always letting me have a part of your time. To my new readers, it’s such an honour to be graced with your attention and the presence of your mind, I hope this will not be the last time.

I work in hospitality and I quickly learned that the way people perceive you, your first impression, is how they deal with you. In my line of work this is very key to getting along with people.

When I tell people I grew up in ghetto Lagos, majority would disagree and the usual question will be “how are you so calm?”. My reaction would be a smile but I always felt slighted.

Why? Stereotypes. A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular person or thing. So being calm completely negates the personality of someone who had their formative years in ghetto Lagos. 

Most people are guilty of this though. we have an idea stuck in our head about a particular person or thing and so we expect everything or everyone that proceeds out of that peculiarity to act in a certain kind of way and we judge them based on those standards.

While your environment plays a major role in your type of person, it doesn’t change the fundamentality of who you are or whoever you choose to be.

Stereotypes have become so common and accepted that we tailor our lives to fit into the boxes they create. Why do you think racism still exists? We are in the 21st century, you mean my skin color is still an issue?

Sadly, we might always have to live with the weight of stereotypes and because they are a part of the environment that shaped us, we begin to infuse them into our minds and our perceptions of existence.

For instance, the majority of Nigerians are dark skinned and being light skinned feels different and automatically admits you into the elite part of the society where people treat you more nicely. Is that tied to a colonial mindset? Maybe a hangover of racial inferiority? I don’t know but suddenly everyone wants a seat at the elite table, queue bleaching.

Another prevalent assumption is that people that wear tattoos are irresponsible, so meeting someone that wears one automatically cancels the person in spite of what they have to offer. That line of thinking is so shallow, and vain too.

Despite how people look, where they come from or the environment that shaped them, there is at least one good thing about them that you might never find in someone else. 

People are much more than you think of them, it’s your responsibility to look beyond the stereotypes and standards it has set.

I know some amazing people that wear tattoos, I know a tout, whom i have unofficially appointed as my timekeeper because he’s always there to tell me when I’m running late. By now I’m convinced he is aware of my entire work schedule. I also know some entitled and shitty light skinned people.

There’s an entire range but we are still stuck in the first few lines. Don’t let the norm keep you conformed, think outside the box of stereotypes, there are a lot of things you’d never know or learn in the box.

Our song pick for the week 😌😌 I am excited for this one😁 it’s about you seeing things in a different perspective than what you’re used to👇🏽

NEVER SEEN THE RAIN – Tones and I

Cheers to a great week guys🥳 don’t forget to share with someone 😊