Monday Muses

     When I was younger, my favorite book was by far The Sneetches by Dr. Suess. In the book, the 'Starbellies' had stars on their bellies and the 'Plainbellies' didn't. The Starbellies would brag and think they were better. They seemed to rank themselves higher than all the other Plainbellies. They would exclude and wanted nothing to do with them because they thought they were better.
     Then one day, someone by the name of "Sylvester McMonkey McBean" came up to the Plainbellies and said that he knew why they were unhappy, and that he could fix it. He went to his car and turned it into a huge machine was meant for putting stars on bellies. Everyone was thrilled, to finally have something that made them feel accepted. They went in the machine one by one with nothing on their stomaches and all came out with stars.
     The original Starbellies grew furious, and were saying how they were still better than the new ones. They were almost giving up on ideas to tell each group part when the same Sylvester McMonkey McBean comes up and says he can fix their problem. He shows them another machine, but something is different. This one removes stars. Each of the original Starbellies went through the machine and were happy something now separated the two groups, but this time, the new Plainbellies were higher than the new Starbellies.
     From here on out, all the Sneetches go crazy and through the machine at least a dozen times each, just to have a distinct difference in appearances, something to prove that one group is higher than the other. But they each ran through so many times that all the Sneetches got confused! None of them knew who was an original Starbelly or Plainbelly. In all this mess, Sylvester McMonkey McBean decided to pack up his machines and venture off, leaving all the mixed and matched Sneetches to wonder who was who. They suddenly started not to care if one had a star and the other didn't, and made friends.
     I think this book teaches a very valuable lesson about not judging someone by appearances or what they might have/might not have. It also shows that sometimes, people will do anything to be happy and to fit in. I think the moral of this story is to treat everyone equally, because really, we're all the same. And just because one of us may have something you or I don't, (in this case, a star) doesn't mean you shouldn't get respected or be ignored.