Everyone rushes to judgement on people and it isn’t right says our teen columnist Zoë O’Connor…
Something hit me the other day. It wasn’t a bus or a car, but a Lulu Guinness iPad cover.
This was not my own purchase but a gift from the amazing Orlagh Winters.
Not only did my iPad get a new home but it also gave me something to think about.
On the cover of the iPad case it says “don’t judge a book by its cover”. Obviously this isn’t the first time that I have heard this quote, but for some reason it struck a chord with me.
Continued below…
That Lulu Guinness iPad case.
Being quite involved in the fashion industry, it almost becomes a habit to judge people by what they are wearing or how they look.
This stems from the fact that you are not supposed to admire a model at a show, you are supposed to admire the clothes.
Away from catwalks though, this isn’t really that fair. I find myself doing it, and I try and scold myself every time to prevent myself from doing it again.
But then I realised (this was the “something just hit me” moment), I am not the only one.
I don’t know how many times I have seen someone walk into a room and the people all around me automatically judge the person. It’s like a swarm of bees erupt for a spilt second as people give their opinion and then focus again to judge some more.
I am often judged by people, based on how I walk, talk, wear or even eat. I have tried to change things about myself so that I can blend in with the crowd and I take care as to not disturb the bees.
If you come across as confident, you get comments like “who does she think she is”.
If you come across as shy, you get comments like “would she ever just cop on and speak up”.
If you are wearing something designer, you are labelled as posh or above yourself.
If you wear something from Penneys, you are told not to be so tight with your money.
If you are on the smaller side of the spectrum weight wise, you are too thin and are told to eat more.
If you are on the larger side of the spectrum weight wise, you are told to go run around the block.
It seems like you can never win with all the negativity in the world. But people really don’t seem to realise what they are doing.
Whenever I hear someone say something like this, I always pose the question “do you know them?”
Normally I will get an answer along the lines of “well I know her cousin’s brother twice removed”, or something ridiculous like that.
That does not mean that you know the person. That does not give you the permission the judge them for how they look. It is their business and their business only.
I just wanted to say that I want people to become more aware of what they say. I want people to actually get to know the person before they pass a comment. As I say, I am still getting used to the whole idea myself, but it is something that we need to do.
It is a problem that we need to fix. It’s not something like global warming or world peace but I think that people’s tendency to judge a person based on what they see, is a major issue because it affects people.
And I think that anything that affects people’s confidence or hurts someone’s feelings is an issue.
So the next time you see me with my Lulu Guinness case in tow, don’t judge me just by what you see. Take a minute to actually talk to me, I may actually be a nice person…
And yes this did all occur to me through the power of Lulu Guinness, so thank you Orlagh.
• Read Zoe’s blog here and follow her on Twitter: @Zobo2042
