As the years go by, I find myself paying close attention to the concept of privilege and how it manifests inform of unconscious bias.

I grew up in a fairly comfortable and tight knit nuclear family. I got the best possible education my parents could afford. I had older siblings who could be mentors. I had neighbors who had similar families. My hobbies were mostly reading, I was never particularly outgoing

Because of the foundation already laid, I didn't have to build from scratch in my adulthood. I with family support and self motivation I already had a clearly direction in life and the necessary support to go there.

Now here is the problem:

As I grew and started getting to interact with people who were from different backgrounds, I observed I was drawn to people of my personality and background, and I distanced myself from people who behaved "differently" or "oddly"

I would be irritated by people who seemed to lack behavioral refinement or etiquette.I was confused by people who never seemed to know what they wanted to do in life in terms of career. I was disturbed by people who had hostile attitudes to traditional norms of family and society

While this might seem harmless, I started to realize that it impacted how I perceive people, rank people and rate their "worthiness". I had the tendency to recruit people who had the quieter, refined kind of personalities types and I naturally avoided those with louder traits

The issue is that the concept of privilege does manifest in how we see and interact with people. And it's sad because not everyone was opportuned to have life easy

I realised that some of the unconventional people:

1) didn't really have mentors growing
2) had to fund their way through school
3) couldn't afford the fancy private education
4) have had to survive rough life circumstances.

And contrary to what we might think, they genuinely recognize that they need help to grow, improve and refine themselves. What they will not accept is anyone being condescending towards them because they didn't have that privilege

I then concluded that it would be a great disservice to judge these people on the basis of outward characteristics they manifest without trying to understand the background factors that have influenced who they are today.

By being alot more patient, I am able to see their inherent strengths and not exhibit prejudice when dealing with them.

And as I interact with people, while I might find certain things unconventional and uncomfortable, I try not to make final conclusions on people.

Because I don't know their story.