Don't assume--up to my backside in alligators

Many of us are familiar with the old wordplay on ASS U ME. Written that way, it tells us that assumptions are likely to make an ass out of you and me. This is why our stereotypes about others can lead us to both be wrong about people but also how they can change people and create lasting realities in our world. Let me show you how.

Some years ago I used to regularly visit a small local artisans' shop in downtown Santa Cruz. A couple of potters specialized in making functional animal ceramics. A casserole in the form of an alligator caught my eye and came home with me. I put it on the coffee table where it became the receptacle for keys, matches, loose change, and the like. I remembered also that I had a small paper mache alligator, which I then put alongside the larger clay sculpture. This was a few weeks before Christmas.

As Christmas presents that year, I received no less than six crocs. My birthday, coming a few weeks later brought another five. They have been coming ever since, in every medium possible, crystal, plush, wire, amber, wood, plastic, etc. They are statuettes, transformer, pull toys, books, puppets, dolls, masks, hats, pincushions, paperweights,  pencil holders, you name it. On that came home from from a holiday in Poland with my friend Elena, we have nicknamed "Cracowdile." In fact, I have even bought a few myself!

The assumption that I was an alligator collector caught on. Now I am one. I am up to my assumptions in over 200 of the beasties. When I next redo the apartment, I think I will paint swamp grass along the baseboards! 

"See you later, alligator." "After while crocodile."