One of the most important moments of
my life happened in a car.
I was starting my sophomore year of college and it was
kickoff week. I'd been asked to go get wings with a group that I didn't
typically run with. I knew David, but that was pretty much it. Austin
volunteered to drive me, and since I had made it my life's work to be the one
girl who wasn't impressed by him, I reluctantly agreed and rode with him. I had
a point to prove. (I know this move totally has an Anne of Green Gables and
Gilbert Blith vibe all over it.) But because I'm inwardly a dork and I'm not
one of those "yea I mainly hang out with guys, girls just don't like
me" types, I grabbed my roommate and asked her to come (what I did not
know until about ten minutes later, was that she clearly had a crush on him).
Just to give you an accurate picture of just how powerful the events of this
car ride were I'll give you a little insight to the way I viewed Austin. Upon
entering his Volkswagen GT I thought he was arrogant, self absorbed, a little
shady, a lot sketchy, and very cute. On the way there, even though he
asked me to ride with him, I got booted to the backseat by my enthusiastic
*ahem* roomie. They started talking about who knows what, most likely it was music
because she was so cool and legit with music stuff. Then I got a mass text from
an acquaintance with a joke about special needs people. I basically erupted in
the back seat. I don't remember exactly what I said but it was something along
the lines of "Oh my gosh. I can't believe this." But with very high
volume and personal outrage and completely interrupting their music chat. I
completely expected this guy, who I thought was probably like an inch deep, to
tell me I was making a big deal out of nothing. At the least I expected him to
do what everyone does and use the good ole “They didn’t really mean it like that,” or at least the half hearted “Well
I’m sure she didn’t know you had a
special needs sister.” (You should FULLY anticipate a blog post unleashing my
full personal outrage and call to action on this subject.)
Do you know what this guy said? This guy who was popular and
cute and had no reason to go against the norm and believe/do/care what was
right? He said, “I can’t believe some people. That’s so wrong.”
Crrrrreeeekkkk. That was the sound of my heart door
cracking open. This guy, this cute and popular guy, he was different. And his
difference, made all the difference.
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