Today started out a pretty normal day for me. I woke up, went to work, graded papers, then came home to check my email and to go on Whyville, which I hardly have time for anymore. But as soon as I logged into Whyville, I saw that I had a ymail. "Hmm, I'm not familiar with this username. Probably a ymail helper question," I thought to myself. I clicked onto the ymail and out of habit looked to the girl's avatar. She seemed new to Whyville, as she still had the newbie parts and had a few designs laid on improperly. The message was pretty short. It read, "I went to South Beach and people were bullying me and some other newcomers. What's so bad about us Newbies?" I pondered the question in my mind a bit, unsure of what to say. What is so bad about Newbies? They are people. Just newer to Whyville.
People treat Newbies like they are bad people out to destroy Whyville. They don't bite. They are just people. A lot of people honestly need to think about this. Nothing is wrong with people, why even put a label on newcomers? Think of it this way: you and your best Whyville buddy, who we will call Jenny, are chatting. Jenny keeps making you laugh out loud, and roll on the floor laughing. She might just be that funny. Now imagine Jenny was a Newbie. Same person, just new to Whyville. She comes up to you, and tells you all the funny things that make you laugh. Maybe you secretly laugh. Maybe you shoo her off just to not be seen with a Newbie. Consider maybe liking somebody for who they are, not how young or old they are. Not how they look.
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