My Big College Mistake

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I was in Special Ed Work Experience Programme. There was a man in my class who was very quiet and withdrawn. He hung his head down all the time and he wore grey and black. I was the complete opposite. I was noisy and boisterous. I wore day-glow colours and I held my head up as I took long strides. I thought that it would be a good idea to help that man out of his shell. It took me a couple of weeks for me to build up the nerve to do so. I talked to him and asked him a whole bunch of questions. I thought that if opposites attract that we could have the best friendship in the world. I was wrong. He told me to stop following him. So now I was this loser who followed people around. I decided that I didn't need him. I got sick of the pathetic jokes that he made up to make me look clueless. On top of that, I got a crap evaluation from my Work Experience that I threw out and it was November 1993 and I was denied the right to vote for Canada. I called him a Cockney because of his little boy jokes and because of a fear of what I really like on the inside under all of that Hippie stuff. I kept on hiding behind a wall of flowers and beads in an attempt not to be like that man. And it got even worse. After each Work Experience, he put my tastes down even more. Especailly when I brought a Kinks record into the class from the Library. I should have told him that I wasn't exactley crazy about his music, either. To top it all off, he started treating me like I was re***ded, especially when we were looking at pictures of his friend when he was a little boy. He kept on pointing at his friend and saying, "That's him." and than he asked, "It's hard for you to pick him out, isn't it?" I yelled, "No it's not! Our friendship is over!" If I didn't say a work to that man to begin with, things would have turned out to be a lot better and I would have the person that I am today, a lot sooner. The thing that I regret the most ws not ending the friendship sooner and calling him a Cockney. I'm glad that I put my foot down, though.

Despite that one mistake that I made in college, I've learned my lesson. I should let people come to me instead of going to them, and I've never called anyone else a Cockney, even though I enjoy being called one. I just wish that I could go back and fix those mistakes. I took advantage of a timmid man with a weak voice and he took advantage of me

I definitely think your intentions were good, but you do have to use your judgement. I went to a private school that specializes in learning different students for grades 10-12 and was very pleased when girls would talk to me, as I was rather shy and most of my social skills were obviously lacking. However, there were a few girls, most of whom were especially social, who would occassionaly come up to me without me doing anything first. I was also extremely glad when a girl asked me to slow dance with her, because otherwise I would probably still have an aversion to dancing. These instances gave me a major boost in self-esteem, and I would not be functioning nearly as well today had they never occurred.