Judgement

I was going to be a sophomore in high school, and I was scared. I had just switched to a new private school, where we would wear uniforms so clothing style didn't separate students into cliques. i walked into the huge choir room on that schorching summer day for the summer choir program, and I knew I would be miserable. Not many people at my old school were friendly, so I knew no one here would be; they all had a lot more money than I did.
The cold door shut behind me, and a girl came up and introduced herself. I was still really shy, but she was really nice to me, and she made me feel welcome there. Since it was summer, we didn't have to wear the uniforms, and we could see everyone's individual clothing style. That day, I saw for the first time my future Student Councel president for senior year.
Several months passed, and we finally went on our choir trip. I got put in a room with two girls I didn't know very well, but they seemed nice. Liza told me that night that she hadn't talked to me before only because she thought I was "Little Miss Greystone(Greystone is a very rich neighbourhood here, where most of the people are stuck up)" because of the fact that I wore a lot of Hollister and Abercrombie and always had my makeup "perfect." She then told me that she was wrong, and that I'm a really nice person who is truly caring, but just a little shy. See, I wear a lot of Hollister because they make small clothes, and I wear Abercrombie KIDS stuff-not Abercrombie and Fitch. I'm really petite, and that's what fits me best, and it's cute! I think of maeup as an art.
Over the last two years, i've done a lot of observing and inquiring about Joe, the guy I mentioned a couple paragraphs ago. We never really talked, and everyone told me he was a complete egotistical jerk who had more money than anyone should need. I never quite wanted to believe that about him, though, for some reason. I still don't believe it, and here's why:
The first time I talked to him was when he broke his ankle and I got his binder for him; he said thanks, but after that he wouldn't let me help-he didn't like the idea of a girl doing his work for him. Some would say it was him being a jerk, but I defend my opinion firmly because the next summer we had to clean up after a choir concert, which included carrying chairs from the Commons to the cafeteria. I had four chairs, I think. Joseph stopped me at the cafeteria entrance and told me to put the chairs down; a girl shouldn't have to do that kind of work, and especially a girl as small as me. He took them from me and put them up. the only other time I talked to him that first year, he told me I had pretty handwriting. Joe's a good tenor, but he never wants to sing solos, and I think it's because he's not that confident in his voice. After one of our concerts, I told him he ought to take lessons and use his voice because it's the kind of voice people pay a lot of money to hear. He seemed surprised and sincere when he said thanks and told me that I'm the kind of soprano people pay lots of money for. Yesterday, I heard the most gorgeous piano music playign, and I looked into the choir room to see him playing the keyboard. I walked in and asked if he would help me teach the freshman voice lessons next year since he could play the piano, and he looked down modestly and siad that no, he couldn't really play the piano that well, but he'd help teach them how to sing. I asked hwo he could play that well if he didn't know how to play the piano, and he said the song was just something he made up. He was very sincere as always when he said thank you...for the compliment, and, again, I got the feeling that he was actually a little underconfident in a couple areas.
Because of every encounter I've had with him, i don't think Joe is so full of himself as people think. I think that they, like Liza, asssumed taht he would be that way because of his money, and they never gave him the chance to prove anything different;Liza gave me a chance, and we're friends now. I wish people would give Joe that chance. I think that's the problem a lot of us have now-assuming, I mean. We assume that goths are weird and evil, when they are simply creative, and they are no differnt than anyone else. the same goes for preps. they like the popular fads, but what's wrong with that? they can be nice too! And that quiet girl who doesn't talk to anybody-she's lonely, but she's too shy to try and make friends, maybe because people weren't too nice to her. If she has a lot of money, maybe people were mean to her because they assumed she'd be snotty, and it hurt her confidence. now, whatever the reason for it, she's shy, and she needs you to go and pull her into the group and encourage her. That guy who seems cocky-it's all an act to try and convince himself he's a good guy, but deep down he's not so sure of himself. he needs you to stop glaring at him because he's poplular and give him a chance. He needs you to stop trying to show off or tryign desperately to get him to like you and just settile down and treat him like a normal person for once. So next time you meet someone, no matter who they may appear to be, meet them with a warm, friendly smile and get to know them first. You might be surprised how many lifelong friends you'll make once you break past the prison doors of judgement.
thanks for listening!
Alright, that's enough of my ranting for now lol! I hope this will change liek for you for the better in some way!