this ashamed of myself.
So there was this concert held by the people from
SADD (students against drunk driving) and me and jessi
went to have a look-see.
But by the door there was this smallish-built older guy,
with a bit of a limp, scars across his face and little backpack.
and my first thought was "creep. whats he doing in our school."
After it ended, we walked out towards from the main entrance
towards our classes, but we got distracted by a mini-expo
at the foyer basically about the perils of drunk driving, etc.
Then what struck my attention was a large board of pictures,
starting off with a typical healthy young guy, obviosuly loved
by many, doing the haka, palying rugby with mates,
family portraits in which everyone's smiling.
But then,
the next series of photos were of a car that had crashed
into a tree, it was so badly damaged, that it was beyond recognition.
From these photos, you could see dismembered bodies from beyond
the wreckage of the car.
Underneath the board, there was a caption saying
[name of man who was featured in photos above]
was drunk, driving two other people in the car,
and got into an accident. He was the only survivor,
but suffers the effects until today.
Then I realised that the man in the photos was
actually the very man I saw in the doorway
who I so blatantly labelled 'creep'.
And I felt soooo bad.
Then Saankhya came running up towards him
and was like
"Are you the one who gave the speech just now?"
When he nodded, she took both his hands in hers
and said "You take care now."
I was so moved by this,
and what made it even worse was when he turned around
to acknowledge me and jessi and gave us the most sincere smile.
I just thought "I did not deserve that."
And I cried.
Its times like these that make you appreciate life for what it is.
It made me feel so ashamed of myself cause, here's this guy thats
owning up and taking the blame for what he's done,
facing the guilt every day for whats he's done,
and he's trying to change his life for the better,
and I'm mentally putting him down.
I had no right whatsoever to do so,
and in doing so, I have to live with the consience
of discriminating a stranger even before I've met them,
to live with the guilt of refusing to get to know someone
before judging them.
For this I am truly sorry.
Im also terribly apologetic about the fact that I didnt
learn your name.
But, thank you for teaching me such a significant lesson today
and giving me the chance to change my ways,
despite what I did.
Your courage to face up to what you've done is unmatched
And to you, best luck for the future.
Hopefully you'll meet more people like Saankhya,
and hopefully I'll see you again someday just
to say how sorry I am, and to truly thank you
for your smile today.
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