Everywhere I go I see people whose pasts, presents, and futures are a complete mystery to me. There are groups of people that appear to belong to a certain clique. There are the girls who look like cheerleaders that have annoying pep. There are also the muscular guys with great fashion that appear to be amazingly athletic. Underneath all the stereotypes and popularity of these individuals is a person who may be something completely different.

One Saturday I saw a man on the side of the road begging for money. I was on my way to the mall to buy some awesome shoes that I wanted. When I saw the man, I immediately wondered, “Does he really need money?” What if he was just trying to scam people out of their money. After my dad drove further and the man was out of sight I stopped thinking about the man.

When I got to the mall, I walked around from store to store and saw many groups of people. I walked into one of my favorite stores that has all preppy, pretty, and beachy clothing, and saw two gothic girls. I was completely shocked because normally gothic people only wear chains and black from head to toe. Then I realized, “That’s just it: normally gothic people wear those things.” The world judges using stereotypes instead of stopping and thinking of that person as an individual, not some fashion statement.

As I shopped around and bought the shoes that I absolutely wanted, I went into a very prestigious store well-known for their beautiful purses. I walked to the store and saw two saleswomen who were dressed in pencil skirts and satin blouses with snobby looks on their faces. I thought to myself, “Great! I am going to have to deal with rude women who are going to push me to buy a purse I cannot afford.” But when I got into the store, they looked at me and smiled and started having a nice conversation with me and complementing me. The women asked me where I got my cotton jacket, so I told them and they both wanted it really badly. The women did not even push me to buy something. Even though the women worked in a fancy store, that didn’t mean that they were the snobby, rich women.

On my way back home from the mall, I thought about how other people see me and hoped that others would take the time that I did and analyze me as an individual and not what I appear to be on the outside. There may be thousands of people of many types, cliques, and ethnicities all over the world, but we are all unique and individual.