Don't be quick to judge

Darlene went to get some blood work done and ended up in a room with a lab technician who was a little off-putting. It was more his demeanour than anything, he was very restless and twitchy and just exuded a certain something that made the idea of him sticking a needle in her arm and taking blood seem a little foreboding. Darlene typically has bad experiences with blood withdrawal, so the idea of a possible newbie with a mysteriously nervous disposition didn't help matters. And that's the thing about jumping to conclusions.

It turns out that the bloodletting went flawlessly. Turns out, he is a pro at it. He used to be a lab technician at a major hospital with a great deal of experience drawing blood, but he was diagnosed with MS and had to find a job that was less physical. He is also going back to school to learn bio-engineering. His story explained everything and shed a whole new light on the situation. Darlene felt bad for jumping to conclusions and confessed to me that she learned a valuable lesson.

The lesson here is that it is so incredibly easy to jump to conclusions about your first impressions with people. But until you take the time to meet and learn about their situation, you will never truly see the whole, real person.