I have never claimed to be perfect. I have never claimed to walk on water. When I look at myself in the mirror, I don't see a God-like person who never makes a mistake. I don't see a person who hasn't screwed up. I don't see a person who can claim to never have done anything wrong. I see me. And I'm not going to apologize. You can accept me for who I am or I don't need you.

When I was growing up, I considered myself a normal kid. I did normal kid stuff. I disobeyed my parents. I acted like an idiot. I argued with my siblings. And as I got older, I just started becoming my own person. I was different. I didn't always fit in. I didn't always get along with people. And that hasn't changed 30 years later. I'm not going to apologize. You can accept me for who I am or you can walk out quietly and not let the door hit you on the ass.

Nobody in this world is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. But everyone wants to fit in. Everyone wants friends. Everyone wants to belong to that clique. Everyone wants someone to like them. Everyone wants to be popular. Everyone wants to be remembered. You can say you don't care. I can say I don't care. We can all claim that we will do whatever we want and live the life we want to live, and it's partially true, but I'm different. I want people to like me. I want to have friends. I want to be happy. I want to be remembered.

But I'm not going to apologize for who I am. I'm not always going to do something that makes someone happy. I'm not going to conform just to fit into society. I don't care if I'm part of that clique. You can accept me for who I am or you can walk out quietly and not let the door hit you on the ass.

I don't wake up in the morning and go out of my way to make friends. I'm just me. I try to be nice to people. I try to be friendly. I try to be respectful. But there are going to be people who aren't worth my time. There are going to be people like those I work with who are into cliques and favoritism. I don't play games like that. I'm not going to apologize. You can accept me for who I am or I don't need you.

When I've officiated sports, I'm not "that guy" who wants to be everyone's friend. I'm there to do a job. But I'm nice to the kids, I'm friendly with the coaches and I act professionally, but I also like to have fun. And if people can't accept that? They are looking for someone else because that's not me. They can turn around, go the other way and find that someone else. I'm not going to apologize. I'm just me and that's all I'm ever going to be.

I don't ask for a lot. I just want some respect. I want to be appreciated. I want people to at least acknowledge what I do. I have hopes that I will be remembered in a good way. But I won't go out of my way to kiss someone's ass just to fit in. i won't go out of my way to conform just to get along. I may be called, "weird" or "different" or other things that are not politically correct, but I really don't care. If you don't like me? You can kiss my ass. I won't apologize. You can accept me for who I am or I don't need you.

When I wake up tomorrow, I'm not going to go out of my way to be a special person. I'm not going to change who I am. I'm not going to look at myself in the mirror and say, "I need to be someone different or do something else." That's not me. It's never going to be me. I'm just who I am. I wake up every day and I'm not perfect; I'm the opposite, actually. I will make mistakes. I understand that I am going to wake up tomorrow and know I screwed something up. But I'm not going to change. I'm not going to pretend to be someone I'm not. You can accept me for who I am or you can turn around, walk away quietly and not let the door hit you on the ass as you leave my life.

I won't apologize. I won't say I'm sorry. I won't change who I am. I won't change what I do. I will continue to try to be the best person I can.

And if you can't accept me? There's the door.