They All Look Alike

I’m going to delve into the strictly politically incorrect, the politically incorrect but true. All young black males look alike. Okay, that’s not quite true. Actually, many young black males, who are of average weight and height, have a similar appearance. You know I’m right. The same is true with Asian males of like builds; they all look very similar too. I can tell them apart but not after one quick glance. It would take a few seconds of study. I grew up in a mostly white culture; nevertheless young adult white males can be tough to tell apart too. If they all had similar builds, and hair of the same length, I would find it a challenge to tell them apart, given only a moment of visual inspection.

For some reason younger females are a little easier to tell apart, regardless of ethnic background. I’m not sure why. Maybe there is a little more variation due to hairstyle and make-up. But they still are not all that easy to tell apart, but they’re easier to tell apart than their male counterparts. My physical appearance is not immune from this phenomenon. I look like every member of the Norwegian women’s synchronized swimming team.

Let me continue. Many older, white males look alike. They fall into a couple of categories. There are the bald, bespectacled white males, and the bearded, overweight, bespectacled, white males. Elderly white women look alike, and for different reasons so do elderly black women, and elderly Asian women. As far as appearance goes, it’s sort of a full circle thing because all Asian babies look alike, as do black babies, and white babies. At the infant stage, gender doesn’t even matter.

All this came to mind earlier today. My supervisor, Scot, a mid-50, white male, received a call right around lunchtime. He had just stepped out of the building, bound for a Chipotle, when I was asked where he was. I quickly darted out the door in pursuit, and there he was, a hundred feet across the parking lot, bound for his car. I rushed after him for a few seconds and then called his name. The man did not respond. I ran a little more and then shouted again. Still no response. When I had closed to within about ten feet of the alleged Scot, he turned and gave me a baffled gaze, only it was not my supervisor staring at me but a Scot lookalike.

I was annoyed by the moment of embarrassment, and the wasted physical effort. On the other hand, I knew I had a blog entry, a blog entry that was politically incorrect... but true.