It's a dark and beautiful night in downtown New York. A young couple walks around town minding their own business. Suddenly, they feel tiny drops of water falling from the sky. It starts to rain. They head towards an alley as that would be a much quicker route. They stop when they see three homeless black men sitting against the brick walls, right in their path. Their faces express anger and despair. The couple hesitates, not knowing what to do. Should they go back? Or should they pass? It's as if their fear is instinctive because they stumble a little, then freeze... Every day in the world there are many times when situations like the one above occur. They affect everyone and are part of the social stereotypes of life. In the above situation, this brings up some very real controversial ideas in our society. They deal with racism, prejudice, discrimination and the most relevant being stereotypes. According to Merriam-Webster, stereotypes are “…conforming to a fixed pattern…a simplistic opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment” (Merriam-Webster, Stereotype). They make people have mixed feelings when interacting with specific types of people because it all depends on the person. This causes people to be narrow-minded, have negative attitudes, and hurt others. Why do we have these mentalities? Will they change? Nobody really knows. What we do know is that times have certainly changed from, say, the 1930s. In the book "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, the theme of racism and stereotypes is largely explored through the eyes of young Scout Finch, the protagonist, who is unaware of the cruel world in which she lives. Throughout the book we can you see that stereotypes are destructive to the medium of paper, free from slavery, free from prejudice, free from our past? “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe” -Albert Einstein. Is there a reason why our fellow human beings always despise each other? From the world wars to the black rights movement, and now the gay rights movement, it seems like we can never really get along and accept the same ideas. But what if we did, would our world be as scarred as it is today? We may never know. So what did this couple do in this alley? Ask Society... Works Cited Lee, Harper. To kill a mockingbird. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1960. Print.Silverman, Billy. “Seth Walsh, California Teenager Who Endured Gay Taunts, Commits Suicide.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, September 29, 2010. Web. January 19, 2014. “Stereotype”. Merriam Webster. Merriam-Webster, nd Web. January 19. 2014.