Note: The following is entirely true. There are zero exaggerations nor adjustments to enhance the main point being made.

Today I had my study hall class, and not having any homework, I decided to take a walk through my neighborhood. I didn’t go incredibly far. I just made a simple loop around my neighborhood. On the way back home, I walked by our neighborhood stream and decided to walk over to take a look. It’s not a large steam, just a sort of narrow canal that runs through the neighborhood. As I walked up, I saw a pair of ducks swimming. They were just regular ducks, but I had never seen any animals in the stream before, in all my years living in the neighborhood. I watched them for a little while, and then I started to notice differences between the two. One of the ducks had a green neck, and one was just a solid brown color. One spent almost all of his time swimming, and the other spent the majority of his time standing on land. Eventually, they must have gotten tired of swimming or were just afraid of me, and they swam downstream in the opposite direction. I walked in the opposite direction, back towards home. As I walked, I had a shocking realization; human beings are the only species on the planet that care what other members of their species look like. The ducks didn’t care what the other one looked like, and I promise you they have never cared, and they never will care. Unfortunately, human beings are not always so accepting. Regardless of what they look or act like, many people can find something wrong with someone else. They hate others and grow annoyed that the person looks and acts differently than themselves. But the problem is not the other person, and it’s not you either. The problem lies in the hatred between the two. The inability and lack of effort to understand the other side is where the issue lies. We need to make a better attempt at being one unified group. Hate is not necessary. Starting right now, I challenge you to try and be more understanding of the other side. With understanding comes respect, and with respect comes peace.