Nightglow Window

My Bias

So I have an hour this afternoon to kill between dropping the girls off at CCD and picking them up, so I head to Barnes & Noble. I hear some guy talking on a microphone back in the magazine area (where I'm headed) and I immediately feel a bit put out. Who is this chump and why does he need a microphone to talk to the 50 or so people assembled?

Hrrummpp.

He's older. He has a short buzz cut and thick Southern accent. He's talking about loving your neighbor or something like that, so I peg him as some sort of minister.

Now I'm getting eggy. Why has Barnes & Noble invited this guy to speak? Who is he? I want him to go away so I can look at the magazines. I'm not interested -- at all. Beat it. Scram.

Then I hear the magic words: Habitat For Humanity. Suddenly I realize that this is the guy: Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat For Humanity.

Suddenly I'm interested -- and ashamed. I was so quick, so eager to write this guy off because of the way he looked and how he sounded. I didn't give him a chance -- didn't want to. And here's a guy who's a total hero, a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Here's a guy who has simply and generously made the world a better place. Someone who thought up and grew what President Clinton called, “…the most successful continuous community service project in the history of the United States.”

And my bias almost caused me to miss him entirely.

How lame.