"Don't judge a book by its cover" Memoir

They say you should not judge a book by its cover. Too often this is more easily said than done. We judge people on their appearance from near and afar. We criticize people on first impressions before we even truly know the person.  I myself have judged someone without fully knowing the real them. A particular time I can recall doing so, was in the eighth grade. There was a new boy at school who I incorrectly categorized as being the same as the young men who he hung out with. He was tall and slender and often wore baggy clothing and silver chains with a cross on the end. He hung around the boys at school who were known for being what we all called “bad news”. The boys were known for being disrespectful to teachers and had been said to have stolen before on more than one occasion.   After already passing judgment on who I thought the new guy was I later found myself extremely mistaken. I saw him a few months after his arrival at our school once false rumors had circulated at a church youth conference..He was a youth leader representing his church and more than enthusiastic to preach about the goodness of God. He spoke on how people often judged him without knowing his purpose.  I approached him later on that day and apologized for judging him to be like the boys he hung out with. He thanked me and explained that his purpose in going that was to help guide the young men into a better lifestyle. He had to make them feel comfortable around him before preaching to then on better ways to live their lives. He was successful in his efforts to show the boys a new lifestyle and the next day I spotted all of them at the youth conference. On the last day of the conference the boys dedicated their life to Jesus.