The phrase “to judge a book by its cover” is described by “Word Histories, ‘TO JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER’: MEANING AND ORIGIN” as “Of American-English origin, the phrase to judge a book by its cover, and its variants, mean to make assumptions about someone or something based on appearance or on superficial characteristics.”
We are all guilty of this, aren’t we? Unfortunately, too often than not we do, even if it is just for a split second, and we try not to do this.
Last time I wrote about my mother’s beautiful hands. On the outside of those hands, you could see signs of aging and arthritis. But underneath, the stories those hands could tell would be magnificent!
This blog will talk about judging others without even realizing it. I am not writing this to cast blame, but rather for self-reflection. We do not intentionally do this. It is just human nature. Let me explain by telling you a story.
My husband and I had to take our car in for service, and we dropped it off and took our other vehicle to a local family restaurant for breakfast on an early Saturday morning. When we walked into the side dining room, there was a very long table with approximately 33 men and two women sitting there, and they all had leather jackets and vests on. I felt intimidated initially when I saw them all sitting there. Yet I have always been fascinated with motorcycle riders and all of their colors.
My husband and I looked over the menu and ordered, and then we sat and talked about what we were going to do on that beautiful Saturday morning after the car received its oil change. At one point I looked at my phone because I received a text message, and then once I looked back at my husband, he said to me, “Look honey, those two men have their Bibles out,” as he was discreetly pointing over to the long table of riders.
My heart dropped. I then felt like that smashed, stepped-on spilled egg on the floor. I felt awful for what I thought in my head when I first walked into that room.
When looking at their colors and patches on their leather, I realized that they were a Christian riders’ group, and as stated on their website, their vision is “changing the world, one heart at a time”. Boy, did that pierce my heart because of my initial interpretation of them.
At the top of the hour, one of the men said, “It’s time to begin.” Then they had their group meeting, which started with them stating, with their hands over their heart, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, hands folded reciting a pledge to Christ, followed by a pledge to their association.
For most of you who know me, I can be a pretty emotional person. When something speaks directly to my heart, as this did, I simply get emotional. This moment took my breath away because in the midst of a dining room full of patrons, these intimidating-looking men were changing hearts…mine included.
So….have you ever judged a book by its cover? Have you ever looked at someone and immediately have an interpretation or an opinion about them? Have you ever seen someone with tattoos, or piercings on their face, or hair color that is not of a natural color? Most of us probably have seen and interpreted as such. I often wonder, how people interpret me since I do have a “mad resting face.” My mad resting face makes me look like I am mad, I’m not enjoying myself, I’m not approachable, or I’m just not a happy person. (fill in the negative thought here).
Have we ever looked that our patients that way? Whoa!…What?!? Yes, have we? What I mean by that is, have you ever received a new admission and the patient is angry, combative, confused, just not our “ideal vision of a patient?” Perhaps. Or maybe we see the shell of a patient who is dying of cancer, has a traumatic brain injury, or Alzheimer’s Disease. Do we ever say to ourselves, or to our teammates, “They are never going to go home…” or “They are never going to get better…”, or “I can see we are going to have our work cut out for us in therapy; I don’t think they will even participate”, or anything like that?
We have to remember that what we see on the outside, most likely is not what actually is. We have to explore the patient’s medical history, their psychosocial history, their living environment, and how they function in their community. Just because we had them in therapy before, or we “know the resident well,” does not give us the authority to determine whether a thorough screen or evaluation is needed or not, based only off our own judgements. Do we dismiss a patient’s access to care, simply because they are a “frequent flyer,” or because she is in her 80s, or because he has Alzheimer’s?
We must read the book and not simply judge it by its cover.
Gina Elkins has over 27 years of Post-Acute Care experience not only as a Licensed Physical Therapist Assistant but also as a multi-site rehab operations manager. Gina holds a certification in Health Care Compliance and is an Officer of Healthcare Compliance, Certified. Gina serves as Functional Pathways’ Senior Director of Compliance and Regulatory Strategy, Privacy Officer.
This article is original content by Gina Elkins and may not be shared, modified, or reproduced without written consent of Gina Elkins gelkins@fprehab.com.