Warning: label

When I was little, people called my brothers and I “Joe n’ Joanie’s kids”, as if they were one person, and we had no names. 

In a small town like mine, you might be Frieda’s grandkid;  the one in the troop; the one in the middle, or the eldest girl. It was part of the puzzle, and of our collective story - but there was also always more.

I’m a feminist who also says we can’t have it all. I think this country is great, but we’ve got far to go.  And while my resume says I attended Miami U,  I’ll always - always - be a Bobcat at heart.  

Coach and speaker Bryan Kramer  says labelling others by their behavior can limit our curiosity about them - and end up conveying “something absolute”.

We’ve all been there. The girl who snubbed us will always be a snob. The ones who whispered way back when still hold sway. There’s the non-speaking neighbor; the keyboard bullies, or the boss who never smiles.  And the labels we gave them over time became absolute.

It’s only human to want quick (and easy) answers, but those answers don’t give us what we already knew: in the end, we’re all only human. And isn’t that absolutely all we need to know?