DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER.

The saying ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ goes a very long way; I learnt my lesson the hard way. I happened to be a very judgmental teenager and I lost many friends that way. Even before speaking with or having any contact with an individual, I judged them based on what I saw on the outside. My friends, the ones who stuck with me, always told me that one of those days, I would be taught a valuable lesson; and boy they were correct. I remember the day as if it were yesterday. It was just a regular boring and sunny day in my neighbourhood and I was sitting on my front porch with some friends when I glimpsed at a shiny black Mercedes parking at the house next door. Not only was I judgmental, but I
“Why are you crying a river, Laura?” My mother questioned.
I could not reply. I was baffled and angry with myself. To think, that to this day, I still felt terrible about it and that was three years ago. When I got to my room on that day, I cried some more and I was a person with a big conscience. All sorts of thoughts were running through my mind. How could she be so cheery? How could she produce such a happy smile after what she’s been through? I wanted answers to these questions. To think that the girl I cruelly judged just five minutes ago, was the only surviving member of the family that was massacred not even forty-eight hours ago. From that day, whenever, I saw the girl, I would turn the other direction. That reaction wasn’t because I was ashamed and embarrassed; it was because I judged her cruelly, without knowing what she had been through or who she was as a person and that now made me sick. I have learnt my lesson. Judging people without giving them a chance was horrid and very hypocritical of me and from that day three years ago, I’ve neverpl judged another so