It always begins the same way: someone makes a remark, rolls their eyes, or shrugs with that exhausted smirk and says, “You know how they are. ” And just like that, we've thrown another lazy stereotype to the pile. Easy to say. Easy to believe. However, it diminishes everything—people, cultures, and even truth.
Lazy stereotypes are similar than shortcuts through complicated terrain. Rather than understanding someone, we label them. "All girls want money. " "All boys are players. " "Nigerians are loud. " "Africans don't show up on time. " One line, no thinking or effort. But people are more complex than punchlines. We are not born into boxes.
The problem is that lazy stereotypes sometimes seem innocuous—just jokes, correct? But they did spread. They stick. They create barriers before discussions even start. When you expect someone to behave a certain way, you stop allowing them the opportunity to surprise you. Worse, they begin to believe the tags themselves. "Maybe I am just like that. " No, you are not. You're simply weary of combating assumptions.
It's simple to label. It is more difficult to ask questions. It requires more effort to listen, to see beyond the obvious, to realize that not every quiet person is shy, not every outspoken person is confident, and not every failure is due to laziness.
We all have biases. That's human. However, when we continue to propagate the same old prejudices without verifying them, we are not being intelligent. We're being lazy.
So the next time someone says, "You know how they are? " perhaps we should ask, "Do you Really? " Or are you merely repeating what someone else told you? without ever pausing to question If it were true?