Do not judge a book by its cover

Do not judge a book by its cover

       In my eyes, Brandon had always been the perfect gentleman, to the extent of being effeminate.  He was soft-spoken and would often spare a thought for others, frequently to his own disadvantage.  For example, when boarding a bus, he would often allow the rest to go up first, thereby depriving himself of a valuable seat on the long journey home.  When asked, Brandon would often say that making the day better for everyone was in itself a rewarding endeavour, and that one should always strive to make the day better for others. 

       One day, as Brandon was revising his school work at a study table in school, a group of hooligans came by and saw Brandon sitting quietly by himself.  Being bored and having nothing else better to do, they decided that taunting Brandon was going to be an entertaining venture and thus proceeded to do as such. 

       At first, they started by calling Brandon names that were jarring to the ears.  Brandon was obviously offended.  However, having been brought up in a family that stressed the twin values of respect and harmony, Brandon kept himself cool and told himself that he should never bother to answer back to the scum of the earth.  Instead, he reasoned, if he did not respond, those scumbags would just get bored and stop their taunting.

       However, the uncouth youths would not let the matter rest.  Interpreting Brandon’s silence as a sign of weakness and timidity, they took advantage of the situation and started calling Brandon’s parents as well. 

           

       The hooligan’s words had crossed the line.  Calmly and coolly, Brandon put all his books into his bag and closed it.  After that, he made his way to the group of hooligans and looked at them coldly. 

        The group of hooligans neither knew what to expect nor how react.  Surely but suddenly, Brandon raised his heavy school bag and smashed it against the head of one of them.  Caught by surprise, the group stared at their injured companion for a moment before retaliating.  However, Brandon was no pushover either.  He rained punches on each of them in rapid succession, not letting any of them have a chance of striking back at him. 

        I was just walking to the staffroom when I saw what was happening.  The Brandon in front of me was not the usual soft-spoken boy that I had always known him to be.  In his place was a tiger, ferocious and relentless in pursuit of its prey.  I quickly ran to the staffroom and alerted the discipline teachers about what was going on.  Shortly, the fight was stopped and all those involved in the brawl were told to give a report. 

        Brandon was punished with the rest of the hooligans.  However, as he was clearly the faultless party n this case, he was given detention classes but spared in the caning.  In my eyes, though, Brandon was a case of the saying “Do not judge a book by its cover” for underneath his soft-spoken exterior la a much stronger personality if provoked. 

1.      Effeminate - womanish

2.      Endeavour - effort

3.      Taunting – mocking at

4.      Jarring – harsh

5.      Scum – scoundrel

6.      Uncouth – uncivilised

7.      Pushover – easy target

8.      Ferocious - fierce

9.      Relentless – determined

10.     Brawl – fight