Dirty Mike...

Today I ran into an old friend of mine, well technically we were never friends, let me explain.

In high school I knew a guy by the name of Mike. There was a group of us who rode the bus together. Quite naturally, like most Black children, we would talk about each other for fun (something that I am totally against now). One day we were all talking about each other and I called Mike "Dirty Mike". Everyone laughed including him. Since he liked to rap we took the joke a little further and made a song about him. It went like this:

"Dirty Mike, on this mic, getting hype."

It seemed like every time I saw him I sang his song. I never thought much about it, until today. 

After working out I made a quick run to the grocery store, before heading to bible study. On my way inside the store there he was, Mike a.k.a. Dirty Mike. I'm really bad about wanting to speak to people I know in public, unless I have to, so I was relieved when he didn't recognize me. As I walked past him, I couldn't help but to wonder if he was homeless. Mike had on a black coat and hat, nothing fancy about it, and he carried a plastic bag full of who knows what. That's how homely he looked. Sad to say, nothing about him had changed. I immediately felt guilty for coining "Dirty Mike". We were all young and said a lot of hurtful things, but would if he believed that he was dirty and worthless? Would if Mike never had anything positive spoken over him?

If I could take it back, I would.