PreJudge

This is the first night this week that I haven’t been out at meetings til 10pm… 11pm… 12am.  I love the spaciousness of Montana – and … that does mean that to go to a meeting in Jackson or Twin Bridges you’ve got an hour … hour and a half … just to get there.

Quiet hovers in my home – outside it’s finally full dark – and although there is still much to do before the semester ends – right now – I feel unpressured to be doing.  I can simply be -

The meetings this past week were educational forums for the watershed committee about floodplains, river migrations and avulsions, and I am learning so much.  Yes, I’m learning quite alot about the river – and – I’m learning so much more about the people.

Ranchers head over to these meetings straight from the corral or out of the field while they were in the midst of calving.  Representatives from local businesses, river guides, planning boards, other watershed committees, fish, wildlife and parks, water comissioners stroll in the doors, pour a cup of coffee and vist with their friends, neighbors, and allies.  They listen to the presenters with great attention and respect.  They think carefully, they ask questions, they make suggestions.  They care.

I had dinner this evening with two of my classmates .. one will continue on through the program with me, and the other defended her thesis today.  We went to the Uptown Cafe to celebrate – her success and our perseverance.  Scattered around the dining room were our friends, our neighbors, our professors, our allies in daily life.  At one point we talked about the finer aspects of prejudice – and how we can uncover the layers that are less noticeable but more pervasive.

One friend talked about uncovering a layer of unrecognized prejudice when she was talking with a seatmate on a recent plane flight – she surprised herself in being surprised that this black woman was a doctor. She told us, I thought…”What are the chances that a black woman would be a doctor” … and then I realized, the chances are pretty good.

I think that if I had come in to this job any sooner, I would have been working with many more prejudices that come from being an Easterner. In the east we talk fast … we think fast … we interrupt one another … we stop listening as soon as we figure out what we want to say.  We think this shows how smart we are.

These people speak quietly, deliberately, slowly.  They pause, they consider, they continue to follow the thread of their thoughts.  Sometimes, those thoughts meander and take many side-channels – like the river itself.  What I found to be so wonderful was how everyone else … listens.  They lean forward, just a bit more.  They are quiet, respectful.  When the speaker finishes … they wait, gather their own throughts, before raising a hand to answer a question, to bring the conversation one step further.  These people are damn smart.

I try not to pre-judge people, situations, experiences.  I try to stay in the moment and allow it to take me to a place of truth.  It’s important to me to allow others the time and space and trust to unfold, to reveal themselves as they truly are.  Usually, it’s something quite beautiful.