Psyched Out

Writing about liking to sing, however enjoyable, is not what I want to do with this journal, so I'm taking another stab at it. The class discussion stayed focused on respect in different variations. _Crash_ was largely about the need for respect toward one another. Respect can overcome prejudice. Disrespect fuels it. The two qualities are symbiotic, with prejudice leading to disrespect, and disrespect leading to prejudice. One of my clients trains business people about her home continent's different cultures and the expectations and interpretation of behaviors in each. She was telling me about the "eight second rule", which as it turns out is not how long an M&M can be on the floor and still be edible, but a tendency to form our opinions about each other in the first eight seconds. We had an interesting discussion about how social workers and medical workers have to constantly combat that tendency, and how much practice and awareness it takes to do so. This class is helping me explore my biases and prejudices and reminding me that the eight second rule can lead me to places I can't go if I want to be a responsible and respectful social worker.