#14 Gracie, Laura & Booggers.

Gracie.

She lived down the road, came from an impoverished family, always wore the same clothes, short, high waters. She was one of the stops on our bus. There was something I liked about her, but I didn't want her to sit next to me. I'm ashamed to say it, but I was in the cool kid crowd, and I didn't want to be associated with Gracie.

As one of the cool kids, I had status. Gracie didn't.

Andy Crouch, in his book, Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power, one of my all-time fav books, defines status as "at its root is "where you stand" – is about your place in line."