Today at South some of the students participated in what was called a day of silence. They did it in protest of several things...I'm not totally sure what.(When I asked, the people who were silent couldn't exactly tell me...go figure...) I heard that it was for gay rights, minorities, protesting the graffiti that happened last week at school, and for the people who died during the Holocaust. So I was observing some of them and how people around them acted. Some people sort of just smiled and said "Oh, that's cool" and then went on with whatever they were doing. Some of the people waited until the silent students left before cracking a joke. But some were making fun of the entire protest right in front of the silent students, knowing very well that they couldn't say anything in retaliation. And so I'm thinking... these people can laugh all they want, but at least the others are doing something. When most people want something to change they just grumble about it, or bash the people who are "at fault."
And I think I tend to have this kind of attitude more than I'd like to admit. It seems like it's always someone else taking a stand for what they believe in(like today) while I sit back and grumble about how my non-Christian friends are going to go to hell. I intend to do something, but somehow it just doesn't happen. I don't say what I mean to say, even though I really want to. I don't cut in and tell the kids making jokes to knock it off, even though I'm telling them to shut up in my head over and over again. I don't give my food to the homeless man I see digging through the garbage as I walk by with my Nikes and brand new Old Navy purse, even though I'm screaming inside to give it to him so loudly that I'm surprised that my sister can't hear as she's walking next to me.
So why? Why can't I just do it?
Heck if I know.
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4 comments:
I think we as humans are creatures of habit. Before you realized you could do something, you went along doing nothing. Now that you want to do something, you can't because it would mean changing. It would break you habit cycle, it would disrupt the flow.
Change is good. Next time you feel like speaking up, do it, just to see what happens.
Yeah, so that's why I wore the ribbon and then didn't talk during the most part of two classes out of four. I wasn't completely comfortable with the Gay thing, but the rest of it I agreed with, so I sort of did a compromise.
I know how you feel because sometimes in my head I just want to do something but it just doesn't come out. I was kind of rude about saying yay! alex can't talk. but I didn't mean it seriously I know how you feel. sometimes I want to say good job to people or when we are doing a group prayer i want to pray but i'm scared so i don't and then i regret it later. Sometimes I feel like an idiot but I think the things that I regret most are the things that I never tried ask an elderly person you know ask them if there was one thing they could have changed about their lives...most of them would probably say I wish I would have taken more risks.
I'm floating along in the same boat hunny.
Yup that was my quote on the forums a while back. :D
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