Watch Out! People Are More Wonderfully Varied Than You May Think

My brother, comedian Marty Daniels, had the host of a laidback Christian radio station in Seattle yucking it up big time this past week.

Marty, who was in Columbus at the time, asked the host to describe the hairstyles and clothing of various staffers at the radio station to him. On the bases of his descriprions, he could tell the host to what denomination each staffer belonged.

Of course, Christian denominational members aren't the only groups that tend to have their own "uniforms" and "do's." People who share tastes or are in the same demographic groupings not only flock together, but tend to look alike.

Nowhere is this more true than it is of young people, desperately trying to find their own niches (i.e., somewhere their parents are absent) by dressing like everyone else close to their age. A few years ago, our son and I checked out a local rock festival. I was looking for a band that might help us do a contemporary worship service that appealed to high schoolers. It seemed that every male in the place was wearing black T-shirts, jeans, tattoos, and piercings. On the way home, my son and I started making up a song that had this for a hook: "I'm so unique! Just like everyone else!"

But we have to be careful about pigeonholing people. Tonight, as my wife and daughter tried on clothes at a store in the mall we were at, I suggested to my future son-in-law that we slip into a Hot Topic. A collector of buttons, I love to rummage through jars stocked in that chain's outlets. Occasionally, I find a gem for my collection.

I didn't find any I wanted to buy and after we left, future son-in-law said to me, "The clerk in there is the first one I ever saw at a Hot Topic who didn't have piercings. He didn't have one!"

Then he continued, "But then, a fifty-one year old preacher..."

"In a grey knit shirt, black Hagar slacks, and SAS shoes doesn't exactly fit their demographic either," I finished.

People are pesky creatures. The minute we think we've got them figured out (and sometimes we do, if only in part), they fool us. Not all our stereotypes are true. Thank God that part of what it means to be created in His image is that our diversity reflects His vast infinitude and complexity! God is a great artist and every human being is a masterpiece.