Saturday, April 30, 2005
Monster
I've seen the way you give nasty looks to innocent strangers who smile at you as you brush shoulders. Heck, you've done it to me. You talk about going to the mall, buying clothes and "cute shoes," handbags, makeup and whatever. Then you go to class and discuss literary criticism about living in a material world--this is so true, I know you say to yourself as your eyes open up wide during a moment of epiphany. In a moment of honesty you raise your hand and admit it. You admit that it's so true and you tell how materialistic you and your friends are and... There's a pause... You wish you weren't like that.
But when class is over you go meet your friends and talk about getting pedicures and manicures at the mall. It comes so natural like you never wished it were any different, like you never meant it, or like you don't believe you can change the things you do. I thought you said something; I thought you meant something.
And you. Urgh, YOU. You obsess about recycling. You actually bother to wash your bottles and take off the labels before you put them in the recycling bin. You lecture us about turning off the lights, and energy efficiency. You'll only interview with companies that are environmentally friendly, and your standards for that are very strict. YOU call yourself an environmentalist...
"But I love my SUV," you say confidently as if it's some caveat. As if every other environmentally friendly thing you do balances out your SUV loving, your oil addiction, your fondness of gas-guzzling machines. And you still have the nerve to give us a nasty look when we don't wash the bottle before recycling.
And you, Mr. You walk around with such a bad attitude, giving everyone who looks a dollar richer than you a nasty look. Yeah you're from the hood. You pulled yourself up from your boot-straps, and because you had such a rough childhood in the projects, you seem to have made it your life mission to bash every person who didn't. When someone tries to understand you, to listen to you, to help you it's all, "Oh snap, you don't know anything, you're ignorant."
You say this world is racist and intolerant. And I agree with you, it needs to change. But the way you decide to hate on everyone who didn't have it as bad as you claim makes me wonder if you enjoy being intolerant more than you want equality.
And the professor who snubs his students. And the lawyer who goes after the sick and the injured by day and who sleeps in pillows stuffed with money by night. And the college advising deans who get paid to make students cry. The politicians who pretend to care till the day they get elected. All the so called respectable men in suits and ties who cheat on their wives twice a month. The people who don't care about anything but what's on their agenda.
No one's perfect, we can't expect that. We've all got to give and take a little bit, but that's no excuse for some of the things we do. Sometimes it's worth slowing down to see if we're really making sense.
But when class is over you go meet your friends and talk about getting pedicures and manicures at the mall. It comes so natural like you never wished it were any different, like you never meant it, or like you don't believe you can change the things you do. I thought you said something; I thought you meant something.
And you. Urgh, YOU. You obsess about recycling. You actually bother to wash your bottles and take off the labels before you put them in the recycling bin. You lecture us about turning off the lights, and energy efficiency. You'll only interview with companies that are environmentally friendly, and your standards for that are very strict. YOU call yourself an environmentalist...
"But I love my SUV," you say confidently as if it's some caveat. As if every other environmentally friendly thing you do balances out your SUV loving, your oil addiction, your fondness of gas-guzzling machines. And you still have the nerve to give us a nasty look when we don't wash the bottle before recycling.
And you, Mr. You walk around with such a bad attitude, giving everyone who looks a dollar richer than you a nasty look. Yeah you're from the hood. You pulled yourself up from your boot-straps, and because you had such a rough childhood in the projects, you seem to have made it your life mission to bash every person who didn't. When someone tries to understand you, to listen to you, to help you it's all, "Oh snap, you don't know anything, you're ignorant."
You say this world is racist and intolerant. And I agree with you, it needs to change. But the way you decide to hate on everyone who didn't have it as bad as you claim makes me wonder if you enjoy being intolerant more than you want equality.
And the professor who snubs his students. And the lawyer who goes after the sick and the injured by day and who sleeps in pillows stuffed with money by night. And the college advising deans who get paid to make students cry. The politicians who pretend to care till the day they get elected. All the so called respectable men in suits and ties who cheat on their wives twice a month. The people who don't care about anything but what's on their agenda.
No one's perfect, we can't expect that. We've all got to give and take a little bit, but that's no excuse for some of the things we do. Sometimes it's worth slowing down to see if we're really making sense.
