Editorial

Thing 1 and Thing 2

1/31/2010

As I entered Mackinac Hall today, my eye was distracted momentarily by a girl wearing a cloak and a ski mask. I assumed she was in the Renaissance Club on campus and wore the cloak because it was bitterly cold this morning.

I continued around a corner and overheard a girl talking to her friend. The words struck me almost like a slap across the face, "See that thing in the cape?"

Thing? I voiced my question but was instantly told that it was none of my business. As I walked away, I heard "Yeah, so it walked in front of my car today, and I wanted to hit it."

The two girls left my life as I exited the building to the sound of their giggles. My mind tried to process what my ears had heard. Thing? It? What gives one human a right to call another human a "thing"?

People spent centuries using slaves. Explorers wronged the Native Americans whose land they trespassed on. The Nazis killed the Jews because of their beliefs. The list goes on and on of people bringing down others, claiming they are nothing more than animals and savages.

Are we headed back down that road? You, with your blonde hair and orange, fake-baked skin, you in your Ugg boots that cost more than my entire outfit, what gives you the right to decide what is normal? Why do you get to degrade other people because you have a push up bra and skinny jeans? You don't. You don't have a right to sit there and call someone else a "thing."

Doing that, you are simply making yourself look more shallow and disrespectful. This is a lesson I've been getting taught since childhood: treat others how you wish to be treated. Our country is full of incredible people, each one of them is different. People are finally becoming comfortable with who they are and they are able to express it.

Adam Lambert is kissing men on stage. Ellen Degeneres is a famous lesbian woman who happens to be a Covergirl model. Life isn't as cookie-cutter as it used to be. There are games and activities and clubs that accept people who have a passion for the Renaissance and love to dress this way.

Besides, can you imagine the confidence level someone has if they are willing to walk around a college campus with a cloak on? Your opinion of that person clearly doesn't matter to her. Why is it that people feel the need to ostracize certain people because they have different interests? Why is it that to feel good about themselves some people have to make others feel terrible?

Maybe I disagree with your expensive boots and dark tan in the middle of winter. Maybe people will tell me I'm doing the same thing to you as you are to the girl in the cloak. But never once in this article did I call you a thing. I wouldn't wear what you are wearing, but more importantly I wouldn't treat people the way you are treating them. Just be accepting of others. Try to just get along peacefully for once.

And P.S. It's a cloak, NOT a cape. If you were a Rennie, you'd know that.

GVSU student

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