I've got an idea.

Do you really care what an overweight redneck with green hair and bad teeth has to say? 

I once thought, not "No" but "HELL NO!". I spent years in the business world learning to judge the "inside" by what I saw on the outside. I knew who had good ideas, and who didn’t. That mentality carried over to my civic work and my spiritual life.  He’s a nut, she’s a slut, they’re weird, etc.

When THOSE people wanted to help, I would listen, treat them with respect and tell them I would get back to them.   Their ideas were always bizarre.  I had labeled them as irrelevant, unconnected, or insignificant.  

It was a belief system built on years of seeing the world a certain way, one way.

Then one day, I had this crazy, but great, idea!  I eagerly sought out my peers and proudly announced my stroke of genius. I was treated very nicely, and they said they would get back to me. 

Jerks.