Misjudgment

We have all done this somewhere along the line, make an assumption about someone for whatever reason and then realised that we are wrong. It can be the fault of anyone and anybody can be a sufferer, it is in our nature as humans to cast aspersions on someone's character without the necessary information and if is so painful to those being judged, however, it is worse when you realise you were wrong. It doesn't just happen over a short time, this view can endure everything, all persuasion and evidence to the contrary, but why? why do we judge people? and why are we so often wrong.
I have been misjudged, and in this i know i am not alone. It is such a tough situtaion, people assuming things about you because of how you look, what you get in tests, one slip up, how you speak (anybody remember oh "off for tea with the queen" because I "spoke posh"), and the feeling of helplessness is overwhelming. It is difficult to change someone's opinion of you when they shun you because of their predjudice, and i am lucky i have never suffered racisim or serious bullying. Misjudgment goes hand in hand with stereotypes, it breeds the same resentment and bitterness.
I of course am guilty of it, i judged a girl in my year from what other people said about her, insulted her, didn't take the time to know her and now, she is one of my best friends. I have always wondered why? what gave me the right to insult someone i didn't know, and the answer, at the time at least, was because i had "judged" her, but it was wrong.
I mentioned earlier the feeling experienced when you realise your mistake; it is humiliating to the extreme, particularly if you have been alone in your predjudice, shame is also prominent, reagret and sorrow go without saying. What prompts this change of heart? i don't know, but would be interested if anyone did, however today i found my opinion of someone changed because i felt pity for them.
I was actually sad enough to watch, or what i didn't see read the transcripts of, George W Bush's final press conference, and you know what? i felt sorry for him. I still believe he has been a terrible president, made lots of mistakes in his tenure, made numerous gaffs, slips and Bushisms but i, and many others had made a judgment on him, on his intelligence, and his capacity for the job but his closing speech (although a bit pathetic), altered my view of him. He does care, he regrets, but this is not a superhuman, he is just a normal man with an unprescedented amount of power. His mistakes, although costly, can still be explained, would you or I have faired any better? my view of his actions has not changed, but him as a person i see differently. yes i know, i am reading too much into it, but i am forever changing my views of people and this was just another example.
What can we look to in the future? well I myself have realised that judging someone only leads to mistakes, i don't do New Year's Resolutions, bit late now anyway, however by posting each day i hope to express my views but also clear them up for myself, make a decision and stick to it. I will keep a more open mind, be less judgmental and hope that people do the same for me. :)