Shallowness and bias tarnish personal image
Brendan Sullivan
senior
I am writing in order to discuss a recent event that I experienced and that I never imagined could happen at the greatest Catholic university in the United States. On a recent night, a close friend of mine and I decided to go out for a drink. After spending some time at one local establishment we headed to Club 23.
When we entered my friend saw an acquaintance, and we sat down at a table and started talking. I had met the acquaintance before but had never met his two friends.
After a short time, my roommate joined us at the table. During the course of the night the only people I talked to at the table were my friend and my roommate. Later, my friend and I decided to head home. After climbing into bed, the phone rang and the voice on the other end was my roommate. He informed me that after I left one of the people at the table (I refuse to call him a gentleman) began talking negatively about me.
Before I continue, I should give a little background on myself. I was born with a birth defect known as spina bifida and one of the side effects is walking with a limp. As soon as I had left the table, the ignorant individual began referring to me as a "gimp" and how he was glad that I had left. My roommate spoke up on my behalf, but this insecure person continued his barrage.
Throughout my life I've had similar experiences, but I never expected it from a Notre Dame student. Please don't misunderstand me, I am not generalizing all Notre Dame students in this ignorant person's category. In fact I am positive that this person is in an infinitely small minority in his views. But I just wanted to tell this person, since I've never spoken to him before, to not judge individuals by appearances and also not to talk about people after they have left.
The first characteristic depicts a shallow personality while the second is very cowardly and neither does it reflect well on you as a person. I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank my roommate for his actions. I am glad that I've chosen to surround myself with friends like you.
Finally, I must be critical of myself otherwise I would consider myself a hypocrite. I, like the guy in this column, am also guilty of judging people by looks that night. When I first walked in and saw this person I judged him as a normal Notre Dame student that would exude positive qualities. I was wrong.
All Viewpoint Stories for Thursday, March 29, 2001
