Andy Ross of Vancouver, Washington was out running errands when he had a very unexpected encounter with a mother and her young daughter.
As he entered a store, he noticed a little girl staring at him. He admittedly had some dirt on his face from a long hot day working at his construction site.
The little girl and her mother ended up in front of Andy as he was checking out, still staring at him.
As they headed to the exit, Andy saw the mother point to him. Then she quietly told her daughter, “That is why you need to stay in school.” Wow. Andy, who is engaged to his girlfriend Jenna and is a doting dad to his son, had some choice words for the judgmental woman. He posted an open letter to her on Facebook, revealing why you should never judge a book by its cover.
You see, there were several things about Andy they didn’t know.
Andy Ross of Vancouver, Washington was running errands when he had an unexpected and powerful encounter with a judgmental mother and her young daughter.
Now, his incredible response is going viral on Facebook:
“So I had a very interesting “educational” conversation with a woman and her daughter today. As I entered the store before I got home, a little girl kept staring at me. Which is fine. I know that kids are curious when they see someone, especially as dirty as I was. They ended up in front of me as I was checking out.
Little girl still staring, her mother told her to stop staring.
As they finished and headed towards the door, I hear her mom say quietly to the little girl, “that is why you need to stay in school.” I figured this was a great time to educate this mother and her 7/8 year old daughter.
The following is our conversation:” “First, I happen to be a very educated dirty man. I not only have a high school diploma, I also have a college degree and many medical certifications.
So assuming that I am uneducated because of my appearance is actually quite ignorant in itself.”
“Secondly, if you are telling your daughter to stay in school because I have tattoos up and down my arms, that will actually suppress her creativity and potentially hinder her imagination as she develops.”
“Again, contradictory to your point ma’am. I am proud of my tattoos and artwork that Forrest Bateman put on my body.
It’s a representation of my pride in my country and my service over multiple combat tours as a special operations medic.”
“Third, if you’re referring that statement to the hat (not featured) I’m wearing because it features an elk, you might not understand it.”
“I happen to co-own Evergreen State Outdoors and am proud to own an outdoors company and support my rights to hunt and responsibly be a gun owner.”
“Finally, I chose to work in a construction industry. I am proud to say that I am apart of building America and I enjoy my job everyday.”
“I tried working a desk job when I got out of the service and it wasn’t for me.
I enjoy working with my hands and being outdoors.”
“Subsequently, it comes with being dirty some days.
I make good money, have benefits, and am able to provide for my family without issue.”
“So my appearance reflects nothing to do with my level of intelligence or pursuing a higher level of education.”
“I left the the two with a simple final statement of “have a good day and try not to judge people before you know anything about them.
Good luck with her little girl.”
