Something makes us all different. That's how it was meant to be, yes? And some of these differences are graciously accepted (such as choosing baseball over basketball) while others seem to be frowned upon by the folks of high school's society. What are these choices that cause us to be different and unliked? Say for example, saying that you would prefer hanging out with your chubby band buddies, playing Halo and eating McDonalds rather than shopping with a bunch of size 0 cheerleaders in mini skirts at the mall while you slurp zero calorie protein shakes. That's tabood. You simply can't say something like that!!! Can you? The answer to that riddle is; yes, you can. And I did.
(Y'all know that I like to tell stories, so here I go with mine...)
I switched schools alot. And at my previous school, I was the "IT girl". Popular, a member of the "populazzi", one of the "beautiful people". But honestly, I wasn't beautiful. At all. I mean yeah, I had pretty awesome clothes and perfect, straight, layered hair, and the perfectly polished nails. But on the inside, I was SO ugly. I made fun of sweet, innocent kids because I thought they were fat, or less talented than I. And if you weren't in choir with the rest of us "beautiful people", then forget it; you didn't stand a chance against us. And I was the worst of us all. You see, words and I get along great. I'm never at a loss for them and I seem to have a retort for anything that comes flying at me. So I had that advantage over people. In the time it took me to shoot five mean comments at the sweet, smart little girl behind me, she'd barely gotten to the beginning of a comeback. And I never got caught, because I was cool and nobody was gonna report me.
Well, a few years later, I switched to another school. Here, I wasn't as "cool" as I had been. I traded in my skirts and flip flops for mens shorts and sneakers. I didn't wear makeup and I didn't care about what I looked like. It took me a long time to get used to not being part of the "in crowd" and it took even longer for me to stop caring about what people thought about me. But I grew a thick skin, and joined band. I recently switched from flute to tuba. (So many jokes). But the jokes didn't matter anymore. I found something I enjoyed that didn't require tearing other people down. Plus, I made some pretty great friends, including one of the boys I had picked on before who had transferred to my current school. Of all the decisions I had made that made me different and a little less liked, the best one I made was trading a "beautiful crowd" for a beautiful soul. And I'll never regret it.
So yeah, I guess my story has a happy ending, when it comes to me being different. But some people aren't always as lucky; thay don't feel wanted or loved and they commit suicide. Because someone didn't think they were "cool" or "normal". But there is no normal. And honestly, they were probably a lot cooler than the people who drove them to their suicide. I don't think that teenagers really understand what effect they have on their peers that they view as "less fortunate, like, socially". But those kids look up to the populazzi to make them feel special, and they get shot down. Like that time you had to flush your dead goldfish down the toilet. It was gone before you could take him out of there and bury him properly. Once you say something, you can't take it back.
If anyone is reading this, I ask you try this challenge for me: For the next three weeks, reach out to people who don't have many friends. Compliment the girl who dresses like a Catholic bride from the 1800s. Or maybe just say hi to someone who is unhapy. Who knows, you might just save their life.
With Love,
Paige♥
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