I believe that I owe Grayson Gold an apology.
From first glance, I already had this false vision of him from the very beginning. His salmon boat shorts, his polo shirt, his Vineyard Vines sticker on his gold macbook, his wallet with the words “RICH AS SHIT” printed on it, his food instagram that depicted fancy foods and drinks. They all had screamed what I had seen in high school. Rich, entitled boys who owned boats and were premium members of their yacht club, and therefore thought they were above others.
Once I heard he was a fashion design student, I automatically assumed he was one of those that has never even touched a sewing machine before. I assumed that he never had trouble in getting exactly what he wanted, and that his naïve and juvenile behavior was a result of it. When I was paired up with him, I was highly worried that I would be staying up late the night before working on the project alone.
I already knew all the cheesy things they say about not judging people by their appearances, but I had subconsciously gone ahead and done it anyways. Maybe it is a part of human nature, but at this point I feel like that’s an excuse. It doesn’t change the fact that I have belittled Grayson Gold in my mind so much that I’m suddenly the one who is pretentious and thinks of others as below them.
But in the dim lighting of the hallway, he is suddenly unveiling truths that I could have never guessed from his everyday behavior.
“What is one thing you wish people would stop asking you?” I read. He paused for a long moment to think and looked back up at me.
“If I’m okay.”
His eyes drifted off of mine and his voice dropped to a lower tone as he launched into his story. His father passed away the day before his tenth birthday and he has moved on since then, so it makes him uncomfortable when people ask him if he’s “okay”.
I then realized that his high energy and childish conduct could be a result of him trying to seem happy so that no one could discern the trauma in his past and drag him back to it.
And also, from his hard work on our studio project and past fashion shows that I found of him online, I know that he has worked just as hard as everybody else in getting here. And that he can sew and that I’m a jerk.
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Grayson Gold.
And so, I am sorry.
