“I see a man and he’s color blind, just look into these tired eyes of mine, and if you see what I am going through, you’ll see that I’m a man just like you …”

My friends’ band, 5000 South, said it pretty well in their lyrics: it’s time we really give people a chance. It’s time we become blind of superficial aspects and start looking for what is really important in people, what is inside.

It’s well past the time to begin showing people respect and compassion. When did people stop caring about other people’s feelings and the effects of their actions toward others?

I know socially we’ve been encouraged to strive for success and self-satisfaction, but were we ever taught to find satisfaction at the expense of others?

It’s time to reconsider a “love thy neighbor” and “do unto others as you wish done unto you” mentality.

Our campus, our world, seems to be stuck in this simplistic mindset where the means are more important than the end result – where entertainment takes priority over respect, where people are unwilling to close their eyes and open their minds and hearts.

Last Friday I was verbally attacked.

A person I had never seen or spoke to before, without reason, screamed cruel and harsh words at me. They were just words – neither sticks nor stones – but they hurt me.

Although, as a journalist I support the power of words on a daily basis, I never realized the power they could have until I was randomly and harshly confronted.

The words hit me with more force than my seven-years-older than me (and a good foot taller) brother did playing dodge ball or when I once took a line drive to the face at first base.

I’ll admit, I’m a sensitive person. Instead of taking these words as the ramblings of an ignorant drunk, I broke down in tears as soon as he was out of sight.

His words were hostile and cruel. I played them over and over in my head as I tried to sleep that night.

Despite reassurances from people who have known me inside and out for years, I am still self-conscious and hurting from Friday night’s events.

It shouldn’t have been so significant to me. One person’s voiced opinion should not have caused me so much pain, but that is what happens when someone is not respected.

What hurt the most though, was that it really tarnished my perception of people.

I truly thought no unprovoked person would behave so maliciously, but I was wrong. It opened my eyes.

Far worse things happen to people every day. My experience was a small, insignificant event.

The self-serving nature is hurting people, and it is unnecessary.

It all comes down to one principle: respect.

Every person deserves respect.

I don’t expect to sit down in any of my classes and learn the “Golden Rule,” not because it is not important enough for a university curriculum, but because most people are expected to be aware of it by the time they have graduated from high school – not to mention grade school.

We all think and feel. Each of us bears the power to significantly impact other lives if only we use that power positively.

I encourage everyone who reads this column to do just that. Do something compassionate for someone. Take time to get to know someone you usually wouldn’t. Volunteer some of your time for the benefit of someone else. Give someone a compliment. Let someone know you care.

Close your eyes to yourself, and open your heart to someone else.