Have you ever found yourself being judgmental about someones ideas

Have you ever found yourself being judgmental about someones ideas only to be proven wrong? This happened to me with one of my co-workers. I thought she was strange and an alarmist, but it turned out that her fears were justified.

We work for a public social service agency. Our office is located in the lower level of a government center that houses court services, probation, law enforcement, public records and court rooms. Basically any government service on a local level that is needed is available in our building. This means that there are a great number of people in and out of the building on any given day. The co-worker that was driving me nuts insisted that she should have bullet proof windows in the reception area where she works. She felt this way because the clerks of court as well as the dispatchers in the sheriffs department have bullet proof windows in their areas. I could understand the need for these precautions in the other two areas because of the nature of the people that these clerks are dealing with; however in our area the majority of people that re coming in are trying to get financial assistance or mental health services.

In social services the most volatile people we meet are when we are out in the field entering peoples homes. Those of us that are in the field never know if the person has a weapon available to them or if they are going to attack with a chemical of anything else. People that are angry with social services and are trying to avoid the social workers, rarely come into the office. My concern was that having bullet proof windows in the lobby would be insulting to the clients that were coming in for financial aide. It seemed to play into the stereo type that poor people are violent and that we need to be protected from them. Administration did not feel the same way I did and the bullet proof windows were installed. It was one time in my life that I was glad that I was not listened to.

About three months after the bullet proof windows were installed a father that was angry about the child support he was court ordered to pay came looking for his child support officer. When he was told that he would need to make an appointment to have a meeting with the officer he pulled a gun and demanded to see the officer immediately. The receptionist closed the windows and pushed the panic button by her desk. Law enforcement came in and arrested the man without incident; however the situation could have been much worse. The receptionist was right about needed the protection of the bullet proof windows.