This I Believe

Have you ever been judged unfairly because of how you dress? I have been judged and also judged others because of outer appearance. It hurts really bad to be made fun of and judged just because of the way I choose to dress. I have also incorrectly judged someone before I really knew her and now we're great friends and I can look past our differences in clothes. One of the sayings I now live by is, "Don't judge a book by its cover." I know what it's like to be treated differently because of outer appearance and for this reason I won't prejudge people anymore.

Many times in my life,I have been judged incorrectly. One time my friend and I were hanging out at McDonald's and a group of teenagers that dressed differently than me walked past us. They started pointing at me and began to laugh. They also said I looked disturbed and I was a freak. Comments and actions like that have occured numerous times, but no matter how many times it happens, it will always hurt a little bit. Something that once was very painful was when I was judged by someone who I thought was my friend. She told me that she was inviting everyone to the mall except for me and when I asked her why, she said that she didn't want to be seen in public with someone that dresses like me.

Being judged by appearance is both hurtful and wrong. I wish things like this would never occur, but sadly they do. Sometimes, people are judged to the point that they feel like they don't belong. This is the reason some people take their own lives. For example, one of my best friends was ridiculed by people at school and he felt like he wasn't accepted. One day he got so tired of it, he tried to take his own life. When he told me about that, I was devastated that I almost lost him because of the judgemental people that said cruel things about him. It hurts me when I hear about people committing suicide because they don't feel accepted.The truth is that no matter how you dress, you can be insanely mean or really sweet. Someone could dress like me and have a heart of gold, but they could also have a heart as black as the clothes they wear. For this reason, I will never be the person doing the judging. This is something I will always believe in.