15 Stories About People Whose Behavior Breaks All Possible Stereotypes

We all have come across stereotypes and prejudices regarding appearance, behavior, or social status. Public opinion lives its own life: it’s thanks to it that we often make irrational decisions while trying to build our lives based on it.

Bright Side believes everyone should be treated with dignity and respect regardless of their appearance or the number of zeroes on their bank accounts. With that said, we’ve compiled 15 short stories that can turn your perception of the world upside down.

• I was sitting in a VIP lounge at a big bank when an unkempt person walked in: beardy, shaggy, with a tattered jacket that had burnt holes, and worn-out boots... Suddenly, everyone starts to fuss around him, brought him coffee, and invited him to a cabin right away. I only managed to see how he took out a big wad of money wrapped in a dirty plastic bag from his pocket. When he was leaving. I looked closer and realized he was wearing brand clothes that had been worn a lot. I don’t know what kind of person that was, but we definitely shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. © Zabastovka / Pikabu

• This story happened many years ago. I used to work as a counselor at a camp back then. One day, my colleague from another scouts’ group decided to congratulate a girl who also worked in the camp on her birthday with a candy bouquet. It’s worth noting that the young man was quite big and looked like a thug. So there he is... standing with a very nice and thoughtful bouquet made of corrugated paper and sweets. After he gave the bouquet to the birthday girl, I asked him where he had bought it. After a short pause of embarrassment, this “rock” blinked and said, “I made it myself.” © SDariaV / Pikabu

• You know, I’m studying to be a librarian. And I’ll tell you a secret: I am not ugly, and I am not single. All the girls in our group are beautiful, and each of them has a bunch of admirers. We are funny and sociable. A person’s character doesn’t depend on their profession, social status, or religion... So, let’s say goodbye to stereotypes! © Overheard / Ideer

• The company where I work hired a new employee. He’s worked with us for a year, and recently started to complain:
  — All the cleaners in our office are rude and don’t know what good manners are: I’ve been greeting them every single day for a year, and they’ve ignored me every time.
  — And you never wondered why they never replied to you?
  The thing is, our director is a very kind man and employs disabled people. All the cleaners are deaf. We can only greet them by making direct eye contact and nodding. At the same time, they are very nice and smiley women.
  My colleague felt ashamed. He went to the shop and bought a chocolate bar for each of them and gave them to the cleaners the next day. You should’ve seen their happy faces and eyes filled with unspeakable gratitude. © drumaha / Pikabu

• I got a job at the Business Intelligence department of a huge Swiss bank. For 6 working days, the only person I saw working was the girl who was showing me everything. The rest were doing crossword puzzles, reading comics, or even drawing in Excel by changing the size and color of the cells. My stereotype about the reliability and quality of Swiss banks crumbled down. The employees themselves laugh about it too: they made an “Employee of the Year” sign and stuck it on the coffee machine. © unknown author / Bash
• My father told me a story that made him stop judging the book by its cover. He worked as a builder in the late 1990s. They built high-rise buildings and started selling the apartments. One day, an old lady came into their office. She was poorly dressed, all her clothes were old, and she only had a purse in her hands... She said she wanted to buy a 3-bedroom apartment for cash. They didn’t believe her and started joking, “Ma’am, what do you mean an apartment? Let us give you some money for bread and milk.” The lady persistently asked what the price was, so they told her. They couldn’t believe their eyes when she took out a bag full of money from her purse. She counted out the required amount and said: “I’ll take it.” My Dad said that he stopped judging people by their appearance after that. © Lyashkakonya / Pikabu

• I was working at a large chain of supermarkets selling household appliances. One day, the top boss, the owner of the entire chain, was supposed to visit our store. It had been raining all day outside and there were no clients in the store. Suddenly, a man in old jeans, worn sneakers, and a stretched-out T-shirt walked in. He walked around the store while our cleaner desperately nodded her head pointing at him. Turns out, he was the owner: he arrived in a luxurious Jeep but didn’t care much about his clothes. © Elena Chemoidan / Facebook
• There’s a girl at my school who is not considered to be popular. She’s not considered pretty, hot, attractive, or anything like that. She’s also the truest and most transparent girl in my school. She’s my girlfriend, and she’s prettier than any of the other girls at my school! © crimsonbolt405 / Reddit

• One time, a dirty and unkempt man visited our store. The security guard started watching him closely right away. When he tried to approach the sales assistants, they immediately moved away from him. The store manager was there too. He went up to that man and asked how he could help him. Eventually, the man bought a TV set for $1,500 and several add-ons for it, like wipes, stabilizers, etc. The man asked the manager to help him carry his purchases to the car. When the manager came back, he said the man had the dirtiest but expensive Jeep. While loading the TV set, the man told him that he had just come back from a fishing trip, but since it had taken a bit more than planned, he was scared to go home to his furious wife empty-handed. He remembered that she wanted a new TV, so he stopped by the store on his way back home to buy it for her. © Anidag78 / Pikabu
• Three years ago, I forgot my new phone in a café and only realized I’d lost it when I got home. I was quite upset but eventually accepted the situation. Later on, my son called me on the landline and told me that some guys had just called him to tell him they’d found my phone. Not only did they bring it to my house, they also didn’t take the money that I offered them as a sign of gratitude. © Vlada Milevskaya / Facebook

• The other day, I got on a bus that was quite crowded. There was only one empty seat next to an old lady who had been actively mumbling something to herself. People were trying to stay away from her: who knows what she’s mumbling? Maybe she’s a witch!?
  So the bus is moving and people keep looking at the lady suspiciously, while the old lady occasionally looks back at the people angrily. After a couple of bus stops, she says loudly, “Jane, can you imagine? There are still people who don’t know what a handsfree is!” She gets one out of her kerchief and turns back to the window. Everyone’s stereotype disappeared. I think everybody was embarrassed. © unknown author / Bash

• I’ve been dating a sweet girl for one year. Her height is a bit more than 5 feet, she often wears dresses and likes musicals. One time, I decided to surprise her and visit her home (I had a key to her apartment). When I opened the door, I heard horrible and weird sounds. I got scared, rushed into the room, and saw my sweetheart singing songs along with a rock band. Actually, singing is not the right word, she was growling (Bright Side note: growl or death growl is a vocal technique used by death metal singers.) She was growling so well and scarily that any death metal singer would envy her. All my stereotypes crumbled, and I asked her to let me be the one to sing lullabies to our future kids. © Overheard / Ideer

• I was working at a luxury computer equipment store. One time, two ordinary-looking old ladies visited us and bought computers and devices for the amount of my annual salary. I helped them myself and later installed the devices they bought in their homes. It turned out that they’re sisters, teachers of Physics and Math, who earn money by giving private lessons. They gave me all their old devices as a bonus. © KHTN1311 / Pikabu

What curious stereotypes have you come across?