Letter of the day: Our reaction to Susan Boyle says more about us than her

The world has been abuzz over Susan Boyle -- the Scottish woman who appeared on the British TV show "Britain's Got Talent." The buzz is how this ordinary appearing woman -- some have even gone so far as to call her "frumpy" -- surprised the judges with her beautiful singing voice. But I am shocked at how the real teaching point in this whole story has been missed -- the judges' comments after she sang. They were stinging and hurtful, incredulous that this woman, based on her appearance, could have any talent. I and a few of my colleagues were shocked at how they, more or less, told her that she looked like a loser and how the whole crowd, even before she sang a note, was against her based on her looks. This confident, spunky woman showed more class than anyone in that building. Through her actions, she said, "I'm OK with who I am, and I don't need to have my outside appearance be what you seem to think is acceptable." The real lesson here isn't "don't judge a book by its cover;" it's that we are a very superficial, shallow society that allows people to judge us based on their shallow ideas of what is important -- appearance. KATHY KIENTZLE, EDEN PRAIRIE