Since I was young, I was always taught “treat others how you would like to be treated.” I believe that’s what we consider to be called the “Golden Rule”. With that being said, I do not see this with everyone encounter. Society has created a stigma of treating some people like they are abnormal or weird due to a disability that they might have whether it is physical or mental.
When I got to campus I pretty much had my friend group already situated. I knew who I would be around and we knew we all would make an effort to be there for each other. Collectively we were cohesive, that cohesion carried us through about 8 weeks of the semester then I decided to try something different. There was a boy I met on campus, he did not seem to talk to a lot of people but I decided I wanted to be nice. I went up to him and spoke to him, we talked for a little bit and once we started speaking it pretty much poured out of him. This sense of all it takes is communicating to someone that you don’t know to make them feel welcomed.
After a few times we would randomly bump into each other here and there. We would communicate and catch up a little. Doing this we built great rapport to the point that I started introducing him to my other friends. Having the great friends that I do they embraced as if we knew him for years. It got to the point where we exchanged numbers.
All this to say that he has a social disability that many people would see and not speak to him. However, when I saw that he was a kid constantly by himself I felt obliged to reach out to him. Whether he has a disability or not, that does not make him any less human. Treating him with the same respect and love I would treat any new person I met. I believe in life we have strayed too far from the “Golden Rule” that it seems like hate has spread through everyone. However at the end of the day, everyone has a friend in me.
Unruly Bodies 
First, I would be honored to be able to have a friend like yourself, since I too struggle with social interaction and if someone were to reach out to me like you did with that person, it would be a wonderful experience. Sometimes I find myself in similar positions, where I would like to talk to others however my anxiety gets the better of me and I start to overthink (maybe speaking out to them would be weird, they don’t want to talk to you, etc.) and then my attempt to socialize becomes nonexistent. Thus, I agree with your mindset that all it takes is a small push to bring out a beautiful relationship with another individual, I just wish I had the same courage you had the moment you extended your hand to that individual. This piece was inspiring, as it pushes me to want to try to talk to new people who may also feel the same as I do and are too scared to speak out. Thank you for writing about your experience, it was great!
This blog post is amazing! I agree with you 100% that. I, like everyone else was very nervous about coming into college and making friends. Like you mentioned, because I didn’t have a disability people looked at me in a way you could say was “normal”. I thin the reason that society hasn’t totally gone to crap in this aspect is because of people like you! Even though I may not be able to know exactly who you are, I am honored to know I get to sit in class with such a special person!
First and foremost , I would like to say you are an amazing person at heart. Moreover , I genuinely agree that the concept “treat others how you would like to be treated” ultimately is the golden rule that can be applied in all walks of life. Ultimately becoming a respect thing , treat others with respect. Furthermore , I too feel like hate and disrespect is way more common than love and respect , people love to pick apart the differences in which one holds rather than embrace the differences and what they bring to the table. I encountered this first hand when watching how kids would treat the special – Ed kids at my old high school , these kids would be walking in the hallway single file line together and as they walk through the hallways they would stick out their hands just reaching out for hi-fives from the passerby’s in the hallways. To which students some would gladly offer a hi-five and go about their day whilst others; many would feel some sort of disgust or some way and avoid their hand from touching them , as if they had cooties. With that being said I always would gladly give them a hi-five as putting myself in their shoes I just couldn’t fathom how they felt as a result of the inconsiderate reactions. I love that you are good hearted and stray from the norm. Great post!!
I like that you connected both the golden rule and toy story all in one blog post– very clever. As for the substantive part, I like how you drew attention the dehumanization of people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities etc. I think we see this attitude of dehumanization in a lot of places especially politics when it comes to all marginalized groups. If everyone followed the golden rule I think we’d 1. all get along better and 2. there would be less problems.