I’m wondering if there’s any merit in correcting assumptions and stereotypes.

For example, a woman says she’s working late and someone she barely knows assumes she must be a workaholic from that statement. Hmmn…

It would seem illogical to arrive at a conclusion from a single statement. One could say it betrays a certain narrow-mindedness, when a person is only able to conceive one scenario in a situation that has multiple possibilities.

In this instance, the woman may have been playing all day and so ended up running late on important deliverables. There could have been a flat tire on the way to work, an impromptu meeting while at work, an unplanned fire drill….all these are valid possibilities. To make a sudden leap to arrive at “workaholic” connotes a mindset that seems against women working late. So, the person concluded before thinking through.

Here’s why I was wondering whether it is worth the emotional energy to correct assumptions:

Am I in a relationship with the person? Do I want to be?

Am I doing business with the person?

Is the person a family member I have to see everyday?

Has the person been assigned to me as a project from God?

If the person is neither of these (or something similar), is there really any value in what they think?