Walking a Mile

           Walking a mile in someone else's shoes really does change how you feel about someone and helps you understand where the other person is coming from. It's true, we all judge everyone  and everything before we get to know them we are only human. At first when we see someone wearing clothes from last season, or that look like they're from 2002 we think " Uhm doesn't she realize those clothes are ugly and totally out of style? She looks like she came straight out of the 2000's. She's about 10 years behind in fashion LOL much? " Those are some of the thoughts that run through our heads, well at least in mine anyways. And yes, maybe that girls outfit is as old as a fifth grader but maybe she really loves it? Because her mother passed away and that was her mom favourite outfit?  Or maybe her family is going through a hard time economically and can't update their closets every season like you and I can. So if you're family was going through the same thing would you make those comments? No you wouldn't. Before we judge someone we should get to know them and then try to understand why she's wearing boot cut jeans with a bright pink tube top and turquoise eye shadow up to her eyebrows.

This happens every day of our lives, from the people we go to school with to the shows we watch to the books we read, even inside our own homes. For example in the worldly famous play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, Mercutio was a wild party hard type of guy who was Romeo's best friend. Who is always looking to get down and dirty into a flight, he is willing to fight anyone basically. Mercutio is always giving Romeo a hard time because he's not like him, Romeo has feelings and writes poetry and sits by the ocean to hear the waves crash on the ocean while Mercutio is off at some grand party being the life of the party who is probably high on Ecstasy. Or he's the guy you'd want as back up if you ever got in a fight. While Romeo like I said was quite the opposite so Mercutio was always giving him a hard time for that and would try to get him to change to be more of a ''man'' and actually fight and be like the rest of their friends. But one day Romeo stopped being the soft romantic guy who writes poetry, one day he changed completely he went from 0 to 100. That day was the day the fight started between him and Tybalt. That day during that fight he had begged Tybalt not to fight and just to walk away. " I  do protest I never injured thee,
But love thee better than thou canst devise,
Till thou shalt know the reason of my love.
And so, good Capulet—which name I tender
As dearly as my own—be satisfied. "  Then Mercutio stepped in and asked Tybalt to fight him instead, Tybalt confused said "What wouldst thou have with me?" So after that Mercutio made him angry and then they were fighting when Romeo then steeped in and tried to break up the fight in a way, after all the swords and moving around Tybalt stabs Mercutio and as he is bleeding out to death he says a few lines that really make  him understand why Prince Escalus wanted the fight to end, and now Mercutio in his final minutes really understood where the prince was coming from and why he wanted the hatred between the two families to stop.

Another example from a book I have read is from the book by Mark Haddon '' The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'' Is how Mrs. Boone, Christopher's mother felt like she had had walked a mile in Mr. Boones shoes he was always the one who had been taking care of him for years now, he was the one who would be with him, cook for him, talk to him , live with him, go pick him up at a police station in the middle of the night. Mr. Boone was the one who did that, while Mrs. Boone was off in London living out her days, having the time of her life. When she had to do all of that for Christopher because he came to her due to the fact that he felt he could no longer trust his father that really made Mrs, Boone realize how hard it is to raise an autistic child and how much work his father had been doing. That in my eyes made her really appreciate the care and patience he had for Christopher. She knew it was hard, but she never imagined it would be that hard. Back to the main point she walked a very short mile in Mr. Boone's shoes and that changed her whole perspective.

An example that's very personal and I'm sure other people have felt this way or will feel this way before. The feeling when you first meet someone and they come off really rude and just not like a good person but as you got to know them you realize they are not that bad after all? Well that happened to me with the person who is now my best friend. Her name is Kim. I met her at my friend Maria's party last January. Since Maria and Kim have the same birthday they decided to have a party together, I was really close with Maria at the time so I obviously went to the party. That night we were having a good time, dancing around, talking selfies overall just a fun night. As the night went on
I realized that Kim was avoiding me, and she just came off really '' strong'' and just not the warm loving person I was expecting. I started to think to myself " Ugh she is so rude " " Why does anyone even like her?" '' She's a total b***h" By the end of the night we exchanged phone numbers. She had asked me for mine and I did not want to be rude so I gave it to her. A few days later I talk to Maria about the party and start asking her about Kim. I asked her questions like " Is she always like that? " " She seemed pretty rude, I don't know I didn't like her " As I started talking with Maria, she told me that she was like that with strangers well because she had been raised by a single mother, and all her life because of her father walking out on them she has had a hard time letting people in and trusting people. So when you first meet her she does seem cold and just not nice but once you get to know her she is a loving person. So I started to think, if something like that had happened to me I would not let people in because of the fear of them abandoning me. It all made sense, she didn't know me so she clearly didn't know what type of person I am, and if she could trust me or not. I actually understood why her behavior was how it was. Now just over a year later she is one of my best friends and is like an older sister to me.