Stranger Danger
You know all those social studies or health education classes (I can't remember which) we had in Primary school about stranger danger? We were all taught to fear these tall, scary uncles with moles on their faces and tattoos on their hands trying to entice us somewhere with the promise of candy. We were taught to avoid them like the plague.
Today, I learnt a lesson.
The people to be avoided like the plague aren't these ugly boogeymen who want to kidnap young kids and send them to be child prostitutes in Thailand or sweatshop workers in Cambodia or something.
The dangerous people are really... people you know. Or rather.. People you know, but don't really know.
You know... acquaintances.
The people you say hi and bye to in the corridors. The people you walk by with a smile plastered on your face because you've seen them once or twice in school.
You know.. friends of friends of friends of friends whom you're obliged to be nice to... just.... just.. just because.
It's even worse when you're forced to work with them.
You can't scream at them if they slack off, coz you're not close enough.
You can't ignore them and pretend they're not there.
You've got to accomodate. Tolerate.
Be NICE.
Smile when you want to scream.
I've recently made a... let's say, a resolution. I want to say exactly what I feel, when I want to. Enough of this hypocrisy. Why pretend to be ok with things when you're boiling over inside?
Why let your blood pressure suffer as a result of others' inconsideration?
"That's it.." I thought. "I'm going to tell people EXACTLY what I think of them. If you're bloody irresponsible, inconsiderate and f*ckin' irritating, i'm going to tell you EXACTLY that. No cotton candy sh*t in my words because I don't wanna make you cry or hurt your feelings. NO MORE!"
But... When it came to the crunch.. I was unable to.
Placidly, like the pushover I am, I let her cancel the editing session we were supposed to have even though she could have called me so many times to tell me she couldn't make it, even though I had already come to school early and was waiting for her.
"Oh... ok. We'll do it on Monday then."
How lame.
Why do I live like this.
