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Perception has to go

Do you know what word needs to be retired? Perception. Who cares about someone’s ‘perception’ of something. By definition, it’s not a real thing. So why is it a real word — and a real catalyst in the widening chasm between nations and neighbours.
Cute teddy bear. That’s it. No other meaning. Perfect.

Do you know what word needs to be retired?  Perception.

Who cares about someone’s ‘perception’ of something.

By definition, it’s not a real thing.  So why is it a real word — and a real catalyst in the widening chasm between nations and neighbours.

In today’s day and age, what does perception do for us, except make matters worse.

Think, opine, even hazard a guess, but to do something or react to something based on perception … that’s trouble.

When someone tells you that something “looks like” it might be something … ask them to tell you from what perspective?

You’ll find that perception is often nothing more than one person’s baseless attempt to make sense of something. Unfortunately, that attempt is often echoed or copied, and grows from an infantile guess to a social wave of perceived truth.

And that’s scary.

What kills perception?  Most easily, unplugging the power cable to anyone’s laptop or cell phone battery charger. The Internet is a breeding and feeding ground of perception-generated fodder. But who is really going to turn off their phone to help create a better world?  Really?

The best way to reduce the spread is with empathy.  Walk a mile in their shoes, and all that kind of stuff.  A better understanding of another culture, another person or another workplace or neighbourhood will be a start. Differences of opinion will still happen. Everyone is entitled to their opinions — but be prepared to bend or accept … or at the very least, to listen.

It’s too easy these days to assume the defensive … or to presume to be the righteous attacker.  And much of those feelings are based on perceptions that have grown through history.  To dumb down the fragmented and abrasive political and social environment many now find themselves in, we could simply say, “Things were bad in the past.”

Period.

Address it, examine it and move on. Don’t try to defend the past or the people who were part of it.  Don’t continue to attack the people of today for the crimes of the past. Acknowledge wrongs were done, admit to the deeds, offer understanding and forgiveness to others … and start fresh. If we don’t … and more importantly, if people of all cultures and all lands let the perception persist that others are against them or different from them, we won’t get out of this cycle.

There is a great story in Edmonton right now about a homosexual woman who kissed a girlfriend at a concert inside Roger’s Place recently. An usher at the event approached the women and told them it was not appropriate behaviour.  The woman posted to social media and complained to the arena bosses.  The facility brass apologized quickly for the actions of the usher, said there was a zero tolerance for that kind of behaviour with their staff and offered the woman tickets to another concert.  It was said that the staff member would be dealt with.   But the woman says she hopes the staff member isn’t fired, and in fact offered to take him with her to the show she was offered. In an interview, she said it would prove nothing to the staff member to be fired for his actions. He wouldn’t learn anything,  and would instead relate his firing to his initial, misguided perceptions — propagating that perception.

It is an eye-opening story, and a wonderful moment in the spotlight not only for this woman, but for anyone who has been injured by the perception of others. She chose to walk a mile in the shoes of someone who held a perception of something and clearly didn’t understand who she is.  She also offered an opportunity for them to walk a mile in hers.

Is this one story going to make everything right? No.  If we thought that, then our perception is clearly not based on reality. There are holes in this reasoning, which many out there are sure to find.  But let's hope those holes don't overshadow the potential for some positive change that will hopefully come in time.

One by one — today an arena usher, and maybe tomorrow a reader of this column —  we can start to fix the real issues, not the perceived ones.


Rob McKinley

About the Author: Rob McKinley

Rob has been in the media, marketing and promotion business for 30 years, working in the public sector, as well as media outlets in major metropolitan markets, smaller rural communities and Indigenous-focused settings.
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