Adam Bagni is _________

By Adam Bagni
Collegian Staff
September 27, 2006

Don’t you love people that know you, or rather, think they know you?

Take me for example. According to a wide range of sources, Adam Bagni is funny, obnoxious, smart, ugly, organized, lame, a leader, determined, lazy, devoted, irritating, caring, spoiled, kind, cocky, fun, religious, emotional, selfish, honorable and yes, even cute. Talk about contradictions.

While I don’t pretend to be Confucius, one thing about our society which has become apparent to me is the fact that we are constantly putting labels on people from the second we meet them. For me, simply looking at someone, or even just hearing about them, immediately creates a pre-defined person in my mind who has no hope of mutation.

So, why do we do this? Honestly, I think it is fear. God forbid we are associated with “nerds” or “tools.” That could mean the end of our social lives, no matter what type of cliques we fit into. By placing good ol’ Joe Schmo into our “creepy” category, we can immediately justify a complete disassociation of him without ever granting Joe a word of rebuttal.

For instance, my roommate, Lou, and I look like absolute polar opposites. Everything from our clothes, to music, to friends, to childhoods and our everyday appearance is vastly different. As Lou says, “We only have two things in common – sports and girls,” and trust me, our taste in those two entities is significantly different.

However, mostly thanks to La Salle housing my freshman year, we’re really good friends. It turns out that both Lou and I enjoy each other’s company (most of the time). This is despite the fact that I never listen to Mötley Crüe, and he doesn’t understand why I buy Abercrombie socks.

While I’m still far from excusing myself from placing unfair labels on people, I can say that I have learned something from my friendship with Lou. It’s time for us to stop labeling people, and start getting to know them.

After all, we’re all “tools” – at least in someone’s book.

bagnia1@lasalle.edu