There Are No Types
Only Individuals
One thing you learn the more you interact with a wide variety of people is that there are no persons who fit exactly the definition of any single type of person. That is, you never meet an average American. Or an average working-class man. Or an average Republican. Or an average black woman. Or an average systems manager. Or an average gun owner. Or an average gay man. Or an average basketball player. Or an average football fan.
You will meet people who belong in these categories. But none of them will fit perfectly such that the only detail you need to know about them is in which category to place them. All of them will be slightly “off” – they will have some feature or detail of their lives which defies easy categorization or which throws off attempts to define them. All of them will fail to conform to stereotypes in some way. All of them will surprise you in some way or other if you spend enough time with them. You have to watch out for the “but,” as in:
“I like to hunt, BUT…”
“I teach at a Christian school, BUT…”
“I play drums in a band, BUT…”
“I’m an HR manager, BUT…”
What follows will be some particular item which the speaker thinks doesn’t entirely fit with the first part of the sentence. This fellow might play in a band, but unlike everyone he knows in music, he doesn’t hate “the system” and he actually likes working in sales during the day. This woman might hunt, but unlike other hunters she finds her real identity in making art glass. And so forth.
People will tell you something about themselves and then often immediately follow it up with, “well, I’m not really like other people who…” They will say this for a few reasons. In some cases, they don’t want to be thought of as being in lockstep with their fellow drummers, or hunters, or teachers, or what have you. In others, they don’t want you to think of them that way. In some few cases, they define themselves in opposition to the people around them and immediately begin to look for areas of difference with everyone with whom they are similar.
But in most cases, they just want you to know that they’re more complex than you might think. People are keen to share details of their lives which show that there’s more to them than meets the eye. Many of them have complicated backstories. As soon as you think you have them pegged, you learn something new. Which makes it difficult to fit them in a single box.
What you will find when you talk to people from diverse walks of life is that no one is exactly like anyone else you have ever met. You will have trouble making inferences about other areas of their lives from people’s tastes, because you will meet a number of people who have mismatched or eclectic tastes. For instance, you will meet blue Americans who share many cultural traits with red Americans and vice versa. If you live in a purple area, you will sometimes find it difficult to place new acquaintances into one tribe or the other unless they tell you (although if you live in certain zip codes it will be much easier to make this particular inference).