Ignorance & Kindness

Growing up, I always got really upset when someone treated me badly, insulted me, bullied me and picked on me for no reason. I was a nice kid, I wasn't mean to people and I was a talented athlete. I never understood why people would pick on me in elementary school or insult me. For all I knew, why wouldn't people like me? I had a lot of likeable qualities. I was good at school, and I always offered to help people when they didn't understand. I played on every sports team - volleyball to rugby. I was kind, and had a lot of friends, and I treated me friends like gold. I sacrificed a lot for my friends to feel good and be happy.

There were a group of boys who made fun of my clothes and my red hair a lot. I was a free spirit, never conforming to what was stylish, but wore whatever I liked and that was all that mattered to me. But when people started noticing that I was different, and didn't wear the same things as them, didn't do my hair the same as them, and wasn't a "girly girl" like the other girls at school, they treated me differently. One day, they all yelled at me down the hall, "Faggot boots! Emily has such faggoty boots on haha!" My confidence in myself and the fact that I liked being different changed from that day on.

In The Kite Runner, there is a section of the novel that reminds me of my favourite quote ever.

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

Those boys probably didn't know that I came to their school as a new kid because my parents had just gotten divorced. But I probably didn't realize that Mike's dad had beaten him since he was 5 years old, and had self-esteem issues. In order to build himself up, he had to bring others down.

When Amir and Sohrab go to the American embassy, trying to get Sohrab to the United States and adopted by Amir, Amir encounters a man that just encourages him to give up. He says it's not possible and that he should just put him back in an orphanage.

Amir says to Mr. Andrews, "They ought to put someone in your chair who knows what it's like to want a child." (348)

As Amir walked out of his office, he said to Mr. Andrew's secretary, "Your boss could really use some manners." (349)

She says to Amir, "Poor Ray. He hasn't been the same since his daughter died. Suicide." (349)

Amir needs to remember that everyone is fighting a hard battle in their life, that others probably don't know about. It's terrible to think that Mr. Andrews' daughter committed suicide, and Amir probably felt awful. But the lesson of that quote is that no matter how people treat you, you need to understand that their is probably a personal reason for their actions, and you may not understand why they are acting like that, but you have to know that their life is probably very difficult. There are probably things that are just as upsetting in their life, as there are in yours. Everyone is fighting their own, hard battle, so be kind.