by Richard Serra

Created on: October 15, 2009   Last Updated: October 18, 2009

For a number of years I thought about why I immediately disliked someone without ever getting to know them. Quite often I'd remark that I can't stand this person or that person for no reason other than that it was my immediate thought at the time, and it would last until something changed my mind about the person. After carefully thinking about it, I've come to a reasonable conclusion that makes a lot of sense, at least to me.

The one thing that stands out when it comes to an immediate dislike for someone I never met, especially when it comes to celebrities who may star in sitcoms, or soap operas, or whatever, it doesn't really matter, I will remark that I can't stand that persons looks. I won't watch a great show because one or more who star in the show makes me ill to even look at them. This is really sick on my part, but I don't think I'm alone when it comes to sharing the same with a lot of other people who have the same feelings. So at one point, it was time to evaluate the reasons why, and it wasn't long before I was able to figure that one out. Now I'm referring to those who I've mentioned so far, the ones you never met or don't know at all, but hate the sight of them.

Well, I think all can agree that it isn't a normal thing, and something must have caused us to have such a dislike for someone's looks when they really never did anything to provoke such a feeling. I believe I've narrowed the few of the reasons down to what may have happened in our young childhood. The way it works is that as a child, anything we are exposed to will carry over into our adult lives, and even to the day we die if we don't do something to rid ourselves of this way of thinking. When I see someone either on TV or in the movies that I find hard to look at, I rewind the tape in my mind that covered my childhood years, and there it was, all my answers as to why I have such a unhealthy attitude towards those I don't even know. It seems that at one time or another during childhood, someone, whether an adult, or just some other kid that may have been a bully or a tormentor, did something to make me hate that person, and anytime I see someone that jars my subconscious resembling someone who made my life uncomfortable, I find I can't deal with it.

Classic example would be where this little kid in a commercial where he's allowed to play with this nice toy truck only to have it taken away from him and replaced with a cardboard cutout of a truck. He looks at the guy who gave it to him,

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