I say some prejudices are a good thing. Take lions, for instance. I don’t know any lions, certainly not personally. I could probably count the number of lions I’ve ever met on the fingers of one hand. My exposure to lions is almost entirely through the medium of TV, films, books etc.
Yet I’m completely prejudiced against them. I have the expectation that they may wish to do me harm. I have never experienced a lion doing anyone harm, only in TV, films, books etc, but we all know just how they stereo-type and sensationalise stuff. But I still believe that in the event of me meeting a lion this prejudice may well save my life.
So I say prejudice can be a good thing. What I can’t, however, is justify this one particular stupid prejudice. It’s a prejudice that I hold against certain people, some of whom I know personally and I know they are good people. But I just can’t shake it. It’s a prejudice that bugs me and makes me think less of a person. But it’s completely unjustifiable. I can’t defend it for any reason.
So I wish you to help me defend my stupid prejudice. Somebody somewhere must be able to come up with a plausible sounding excuse for it. Either that or give me a stern talking to that’ll shock me out of this nonsense.
And here it is: Holding your knife like a pen when you’re eating. There are two people in the world; those who hold their knife the proper way like they would grip a walking stick or just about anything else, and those who grip it like a pen.
Can anyone think of any justifiable foundation for this prejudice? Or a good argument why I should abandon it?