
People are complex. You must treat them as complex beings. That’s why putting people in a box never works. If you try to put people in a box, they’ll eventually break free of the boundaries you set around them. When they break free, they won’t be happy.
We always try to categorize each other and we are surprised when those people don’t match our expectations. I try to keep expectations out of the equation. They’re almost never right. So if you’re expecting something you’ll always be surprised.
If you’re surprised, you’re not ready. If you’re expecting a person to be one thing, and they’re actually something different, you won’t be ready. And if you’re not ready to accept a person for what they are or what they can be, you’re not going to be able to truly appreciate them.
Jeremy Lin is a perfect example of this. Jeremy Lin is the first Asian-American NBA player ever. There have been other Asian players but they’ve all been huge and foreigner. Jeremy Lin is under the league average height and was born and raised in San Francisco.
The NBA had never had representation for Asian American culture. Because of that a lot of people have preconceived notions about Lin. They expect him to be [insert random Asian-American stereotype here]. When he isn’t the type of person he’s expected to be, he gets backlash.
Because of their expectations they’ll never except Jeremy Lin for what he is. So when his career is over one day, they won’t be able to accept it for what he is.
Don’t try to put people in a box. It never works.

