Reflecting on the Tannen (2001) statement that we will see the world in patterns or groups I think it would be the natural instinct to categorize the stereotypes. From experience, you learn the type of individual you find it comfortable to associate with and tend to seek out those that fit a specific type. As one that works in the corporate world with past college and professional training, I tend to avoid the loud construction worker that works in a trade association. In doing so, I recognize that there are experiences and life lessons that I might miss out from but it has been a learned method of protection going back to my youngest days. By grouping individuals, you can quickly identify optional pockets of safety and comradery. If I was to be truthful about it, my desire to avoid confrontation and be with less volatile individuals is probably tied to the way I was raised.
But if you only associate with those that you find familiar or similar, it is possible that you will miss out on a life lesson or personal growth. It is no different from taking a college course that stretches your understanding of the …show more content…
This isolation perhaps explains some of the intra family interaction, our reliance on each other and family independence. Ours was not an ideal family with anger and occasional outburst by my father that my older sister dealt with in a very different way from me. She would fight back with our father while I would attempt to find comfort in my mother. As such, it was my mother that I would turn to first for permission and to lay the ground work to ask “father” for something I wanted such as a new toy, a trip to the movies or another purchase. My dad has mellowed through the years but even at almost 50 years old, I share more honestly and with more openness with my mother that my