There’s just something about old sayings that is unique, that makes them stick in your memory.
Sure, part of that is likely that we’ve heard those sayings nearly all of our lives, so, there’s the repetition, but there’s also likely the emotional link to parents, grandparents and other people who influenced us in our childhoods.
One of the more interesting (and useful) sayings, at least in the U.S. is “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”
Now, if you’re not from the U.S. and are unfamiliar with this saying, what it means is that how someone or something looks may not give a real indication of what is inside.
For example, I know several people who, when they go on vacation, look for the smallest, most unknown local restaurants in hole-in-the-wall locations that just don’t look impressive from the outside. These folks nearly always rave about how great the food is in these places that don’t look like nice restaurants.
The saying holds true when it comes to lots of other things, too, such as when evaluating people. How many politicians look good on camera but turn out to be completely untrustworthy? I don’t need to name examples for several to come to mind for you, I’m sure.
And the saying holds true when it comes to everyone else that you meet, too.
Take an honor roll student. Just by that very label, you would expect that the person would be an upright, decent, law-abiding person, wouldn’t you?
But that isn’t always the case. Dave Urbanski writes,
The mother of a Cincinnati mob attack suspect told WLWT-TV that her 34-year-old son is an “honor roll” student and is “not the thug that they put out in there to be.”
The station interviewed Clarissa Merriweather outside of court Wednesday, and she defended her son, Montianez Merriweather, who’s charged with felonious assault and aggravated riot in connection with last weekend’s street beatdown caught on video.
“It wasn’t like they thugs,” Clarissa Merriweather told WLWT. “My child is in school, he has five kids, he’s on the B honor roll in school.”
No disrespect intended, but if the guy is guilty of assault, I say that qualifies as thug behavior, whether he’s an honor roll student or not.
It certainly sounds like you couldn’t judge this book by its cover, and that’s why you need to carry everyday. Because you never know when the horrible could happen, and you need to be prepared.
