Some lessons still need to be learned

This column concerns why we should never judge a book by its cover. Now we have all heard that expression and most of us can give some example that applies to the old adage.

So let me tell you mine.

On the drive to this office each morning, I have noticed - especially in this miserable weather - a father and his two young children waiting beside the road for the school bus. Their house is a good 100 yards or so from the rural roadway.

It's early, it's mostly dark and above all, it's coooooold.

But without fail, the young children are clinging to Dad in the bitter cold waiting for that large yellow bus that will warm them on the way to school.

I've thought several times about stopping and offering my warm car as a refuge until the bus arrives. But the road is well traveled and the shoulder of the roadway is narrow.

I think parking there would be more dangerous than helpful. And that's not an excuse. It's a sincere and genuine concern.

So I simply wave and make my way to the office.

This week, because I was slowed with more traffic than normal, I passed the trio huddled against the wind and had a chance to look closer at this father and children standing against Mother Nature.

The Dad was heavily tattooed and had a scruffy beard and a long ponytail.

OK, now comes the part about judging the book by its cover.

Had I seen this gentleman in Walmart, for example, I would have viewed him differently. I would have judged him based on my perception of his appearance and sadly, I would have judged him in a less than favorable light.

And I would have been woefully wrong.

I know other men whose appearance would portray them as successful, engaged fathers but who would never make the sacrifice of standing with their children in the bitter cold to assure their safety.

But this man showed by example.

We're all prone to make snap judgements from time to time, despite knowing full well that we should not.

We judge on appearance or by the car you drive or the house in which you live. And we assume because of those factors that you conduct your life in a proper manner.

Tomorrow, regardless of the weather conditions, this father will take his two small children and they will wait patiently for the school bus.

It matters little to me this man's background or his condition in life. He is an excellent father and more of a man than many I know.

And in his unknowing way, he taught me a valuable lesson I should have learned long ago.