"I have barbarbque sauce on my shirt too"

In one of my rabbit holes, deep into YouTube, I stumbled upon Kid President. He says it all when it comes to character and modern society. Intrigued, I click on video called, “Kid President’s 20 Things We Should Say More Often” and watch the video. One saying stood out to me clearly, “I have barbecue sauce on my shirt too.” He briefly explained we can admit to having barbeque sauce on our shirts too. Confused? Let me explain.

First of all, I can relate to this on a physical level. For the past year, I have failed to keep the toothpaste off my shirt when I am getting ready.  Every day, I get done brushing my teeth, look in the mirror, and see the mark of toothpaste on my shirt. But I never really have time to change, so I set about my day. Usually, I receive comments throughout the day about the accidental mark on my shirt, but I shrug it off and focus back on my tasks. You see the people who would tell about the stain on my shirt would never look at their shirt first. They simply would point out my misfortune and go about their day. Now, I am not saying we shouldn’t tell others if they have toothpaste on their shirt. Simply, we should look at our own stains before judging others.

My teamates and I struggling to not stain our clothing from the delious pork chops at Farm Fest from the Minnesota Farm Bureau stand.

We all have eaten barbeque and that stuff is messy. Countless times, the sauce misses my plate and hits my jeans (luckily my mother is a wizard at getting out stains). But what if we look past the physical level of stains and think more of them in an emotional level. Often, we hide our mistakes and problems from others. We are too afraid to show them our faults but why? We have made mistakes. However, those make us human, and no one is perfect at everything like we pretend to be. Once we admit to our faults, we can become closer to the ones around us. When we all admit to the mistakes or accept the “barbeque sauce” on our shirts, we all will be honest with each other.

However, not all stains can be negative. Take a volleyball player for example; they have black and blue bruised knees from diving and lunging for sets, saves and passes. They may be different from the swollen wrists and shoulders of a tennis player, but they show their hard work and passion. We only see the bruises and stains as glorious when we look up to or admire them. If we're to look at ourselves, we would see our own bruises and stains of glory. We can find value in ourselves as well as those around us. When we take a moment to look at our bruises, we see we are not all that different.

Together we rally around our barbeque stains and bruises. We make mistakes and have faults, but together we appreciate others for their mistakes because we, ourselves, have the same stains on our shirts too. Instead of judging someone based on the stains they have, take a moment to look at the stains on our shirt. We can love each other for our mistakes and fortunes.

Want to learn even more? Check out the full video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5yCOSHeYn4

Stationed by the Flag,

Lauralee Eaton