You know all about high-school cliques and how hard it is to be part of some of them. Once you're in, though, it's not all it's cracked up to be. Each group has its own stamp, sort of like a ticket to get in. One clique might be all pretty brunettes. Another could be the nerds from computer club. Still another might be the jocks from the football team.
What I wonder is: Why do we have to label each other?

I used to be one of the cool people. Yeah, we would laugh together, but my fellow "cool" people would label others and tell them off right to their faces. I realized I wasn't like them. I didn't want to be a snot-face. I didn't want to reject people without knowing them, just because they had a different "label" than me. When you do that, you judge people by the outside, without ever finding out what's on the inside.

I'm a Loser, Baby

So I said goodbye to the cool group and hello to new friends. My new friends and I would later be called "the losers." In my new group, we are all different in some way—our style of dress, music, and attitude. People laugh at us and wonder how we are friends when we are so different.

Yeah, we do weird things, but we are able to be ourselves. We stop to laugh at small, stupid things, and we accept each other. Being friends is about just that—understanding and accepting each other.

That's the best thing about having real friends. I don't worry about how I look. I don't follow every little move someone else makes so I can fit in. And I don't worry about what other people think. I'm happy with who I am.

I can truly be myself around my friends. It's actually the best group of friends I've ever had. We have our own language. 

Only Human

I guess everyone doesn't see that, though. All they see is a big red label that says LOSERS—and a few occasions where my friends squirt juice from their noses. Only Human I don't blame other people for hating us. Because they see in us something they can't achieve: a true bond. Instead, they follow someone else's lead, just to fit into a group that labels other people.

Who's to say who is who and where we belong? Labels restrict people from enjoying themselves and meeting different people. Do you think the school beauty queen would invite losers or computer nerds to her parties? Probably not. But if she did, who knows? She might have discovered that those nerds are really cool people.

Sometimes I think labels are a way for insecure people to feel better about themselves. That's sad. Because the truth is, it doesn't really matter what we wear or how we look during our stay here on earth. In the end, we're all going to the same place. In the end, we're all human beings.