VALERIE H. QUINTERO | sports editor
I recently resisted spending money on unnecessary items at Target in an attempt to test my willpower. Luckily, I was successful and left the store having only made one purchase, the new All-American Rejects album.
After leaving the store, I was anxious to listen to my new CD, but it was only after I was inside my car that I realized the back of the cover was cracked.
I was a bit saddened and even contemplated going back inside the store and exchanging it for a new one.
And as I placed one foot outside the car door, I realized that exchanging the album would be pointless. If I did exchange the CD, what difference would it really make?
The actual disc on the inside would still play the same exact songs as another CD inside an unblemished cover, right? After all, isnít it whatís on the inside that matters?
Some might say that I am lazy for not walking back inside the store and exchanging the CD, but I would like to think of myself as less of a hypocrite for keeping the CD with the cracked cover. There is a reason that the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” exists and is still referred to today.
I believe that if I had returned the CD, then I would have been guilty of judging the book by its cover. As a person who hopes to not be judged solely based on my outward appearance, I also hope to not judge other people or things based solely on the same criteria.
In a way, my refusal to return the CD was my acceptance of its cracked cover.
Each of us has had certain experiences which have left us scarred either emotionally, spiritually or even physically. And yet, even so, we all still wish to be accepted.
I think if there was a compact disc that resembled me, then there would be more than just a small crack on the back of the cover.
And I would hope all the visible flaws on the outside would not stop someone from taking a closer look, and accepting it for what it is, flaws and all. Because, in the end, it is these same flaws that make people who they are.
Albeit people are not compact discs nor vice versa, I do believe the point is still valid.
If you do not wish to be judged by your “cover” then do not judge other people or things by their “cover.”
So here’s to all of us who keep our albums with their blemishes, not because we are lazy or because we simply do not care, but rather, because we see a little bit of ourselves in these albums and not only accept those scratches and cracks, but display them proudly in our collection.
