It is never wise to judge people on the basis of their looks.
Last month, a woman happened to make the same mistake. She not only judged a construction worker who was dirty after a long day at work but she also made an extremely rude comment on him.
When Andy Ross of Vancouver, Washington, heard what a woman had said about him, he decided to speak up for himself and “educate” her.
Ross described his “educational” encounter in a Facebook post which went viral in no time and was shared by more than 163,000 people.
“So I had a very interesting ‘educational’ conversation with a woman and her daughter today. As I entered the store before I got home, a little girl kept staring at me. Which is fine. I know that kids are curious when they see someone, especially as dirty as I was,” he explained.
“They ended up in front of me as I was checking out. Little girl still staring, her mother told her to stop staring. As they finished and headed towards the door, I hear her mom say quietly to the little girl ‘that is why you need to stay in school.’ I figured this was a great time to educate this mother and her 7/8 year old daughter.”
The woman hadn’t imagined that Ross was actually highly educated, most probably more than her. Ross had a high school degree, a college degree, and several medical certifications.
Though she may or may not be more educated than him, one thing was clear that she was ignorant.
“First, I happen to be a very educated dirty man. I not only have a high school diploma, I also have a college degree and many medical certifications. So assuming that I am uneducated because of my appearance is actually quite ignorant in itself,” Ross said. “Secondly, if you are telling your daughter to stay in school because I have tattoos up and down my arms, that will actually suppress her creativity and potentially hinder her imagination as she develops.”
Ross explained that the tattoos on his arms represented the time when he served his country.
“Again, contradictory to your point ma’am. I am proud of my tattoos and artwork that Forrest Bateman put on my body. It’s a representation of my pride in my country and my service over multiple combat tours as a special operations medic,” he said,
“Third, if you’re referring that statement to the hat (not featured) I’m wearing because it features an elk, you might not understand it. I happen to co-own Evergreen State Outdoors and am proud to own an outdoors company and support my rights to hunt and responsibly be a gun owner.”
Ross explained that he chose to work in construction industry out of his passion.
“Finally, I chose to work in a construction industry.
I am proud to say that I am apart of building America and I enjoy my job every day. I tried working a desk job when I got out of the service and it wasn’t for me. I enjoy working with my hands and being outdoors. Subsequently, it comes with being dirty some days.
I make good money, have benefits, and am able to provide for my family without issue. So my appearance reflects nothing to do with my level of intelligence or pursuing a higher level of education,” he explains.
“I left the two with a simple final statement of: have a good day and try not to judge people before you know anything about them. Good luck with her little girl,” he explains.
Ross ended his post by outlining eight important lessons he wished people to learn from this incident.
“Today’s lesson for the day:
- Don’t judge people at first glance
- Do what you love and enjoy and it’s never work
- Blue collar jobs are the best jobs.
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They can pay great and it doesn’t always come with a price tag - Education is important, but college doesn’t guarantee you anything
- Experience, hard work, and dedication allow you to be successful in your career path
- Don’t be an asshole parent who raises their kids to be an asshole
- When attempting to insult someone’s intelligence and education level, don’t allow yourself to be out educated by said dirty man
- I need a shower”
