No Judgments

Writing prompt #1

"He was; a very sight of sights to see; yet I began to feel myself mysteriously drawn towards him. And those same things that would have repelled most others, they were the very magnets that thus drew me."- Moby Dick, Herman Melville

People handle others who different in all sorts of ways. Personally, when I meet someone who may look or act very different from me, I see it as an opportunity to learn and diversify my relationships. When I go to summer camp, each year I have to get to know new people and deal with them no matter what. Being in a bad relationship with some on a six week canoe trip is maddening and needs to be avoided. Each year I meet my section at the Toronto airport. It’s a time filled with emotions and nervousness. Trying to make good impression on each other but the same time trying understand and decipher each others personalities. I try to be as friendly as possible to people I meet that are very different. This year at camp I met a kid who basically came to camp with a drinking problem. Rather than judging him immediately, I tried to get to know him. He became one of my best camp friends and I recently saw him in New York City over break where he lives. He told me that he knew he had been stupid by drinking he had completely stopped. I never would have became good friends with him if I had judged him for his flaw rather than searched for his upside. Different isn’t always bad. I would never want to only be friends with white, private school, Christian kids that never get into trouble. I would never learn anything from them. Meeting new people and learning how to deal with and befriend them is how all social learning experiences happen. Making judgements are the wrong way tog o about social situations because different I’d just different and nothing else.