Since Whitney and I both have different personality traits, we decided to pick two different social labels to explore. She, being the athletic and talkative girl, was to pretend that she was deaf. I, being the more quiet and conservative girl, was to go out in public dressed like a "hussy." Our prediction was that Whitney would receive sympathetic glances and looks of pity since she would "have" a disability. To prepare, Whitney and I learned a few basic sign language signals. We also thought that I would get mean glares because people would assume I was a bad teenager just because of the way I would be dressed.
Friday afternoon was the first day we were going to execute our plan. Whitney was dressed normal as to not draw attention to herself, and I was wearing a short skirt, corset top, and boots. The first place we went to was Wal-Mart. Many people didn't acknowledge Whitney when she started signing or when I would sign to reply back to her. The number of people who watched me walk by was a considerably higher amount than Whitney and I had predicted. Almost everyone in the store would give me some kind of strange look, as if I definitely didn't belong in the middle of Wal-Mart. Then, after leaving Wal-Mart, we decided to go to Steak 'n Shake. Not very many people were there, so reactions weren't nearly as redundant and pronounced as the ones produced in Wal-Mart.
On Sunday, Whitney and I went to Scheels. Since Whitney hadn't received very many reactions so far, we decided that we'd focus more on her side of the project this time; I dressed normally. Once, when I was signing to her, an employee from Scheels walked up and asked how we were. I just looked up and smiled at him, while Whitney kept looking straight ahead as if she didn't hear him at all. The employee ended up walking away slightly awkwardly. A few little children would look up at us strangely whenever we would walk past signing to each other. Overall, it didn't seem like very many people acknowledged Whitney and the sign language.
What we learned from this project was to never judge a book by its cover. Everyone says it, but there really is true meaning behind that saying. Appearances don't, and never will, be able to define a person. Just because someone dresses less than appropriately or can't hear, doesn't change his or her personality. Someone who is looked down upon by the way he or she dresses can, in reality, be the nicest, most caring person in the world. On the other hand, someone who is given special treatment due to his or her disabilities can actually have a bitter, ugly personality. Everyone should always take the time to get to know someone before he or she passes judgment.
