Manners

I honestly look at some of the juniors in my school and wonder if their parents have brought them up properly.

I know I shouldn't jump to conclusions and generalize because that is a fallacy, and personally I believe in the good of others, but it's just one of those instances, like today, that I really question how my generation is being brought up.

Just today as I was queuing up for food since it was break, I got insulted by a group of juniors two years younger than me that I don't even know personally at all. I was standing in between one of the girls and another pair and had probably my typical sleep deprived look (I got 4 hours of sleep last night because I was up talking to Andrew). And out of no where when I was about to order and get my food, one of the girls behind me just says quite loudly, "I feel so tall now!"

And in my head I was like, "what the shit...?"

Obviously she wasn't talking about anyone else in the vicinity, and definitely not about her other friend because she was taller. So I deduced that it was about me, the only one who seemed to be the shortest one in the queue. It did not help that her other friend in front of me in the queue stepped back to measure her height against me, laughing as she did so. 

Okay, I know I'm really short in stature. I'm only 1.5m, and I honestly have nothing against my height at all. I get teased for it quite often by my peers, but I've already resigned to the fact that I'm never going to hit 1.7m, much less 1.6m.

What bothers me most is that these girls have the gall to do this to me when I don't know any of them personally at all. 

It doesn't bother me that their younger than me, because I really can pass off as a Year 1 or 2. But it really irks me to see them be so rude to someone they don't even know.

It wouldn't bother me at all if you actually knew me personally before you made a jibe at my height because that is very uncalled for and seriously unbecoming.

So of course, pissed as I was, I went to tell Clare and Ching Yi about it, who were in the line next to me. And Clare (who is quite short as well) responded with quite harsh comments about how they have no respect and other things that were equally as funny but I've forgotten at this point.

Funny thing is that they walked away without even looking them in the eye. One girl even bumped into me and shuffled off before I could apologize for bumping into her (see I have good manners). 

After this I went to rant to probably ever other person I knew to tell them how rude and disrespectful they were. And of course most of my peers asked if they just mistook me for a junior, like them, cause of my height.

Its not a matter of respecting your elders, or anyone older than you, because I firmly believe that respect should be earned, not just an entitlement. But this is having the common decency to be mindful of other people who clearly have nothing to do with you and have not offended you in any way at all.

I honestly don't think it was right for them to do that, probably to them it was just a harmless joke and they never meant it to be malicious in any way.

But honestly, do I really know them? I don't. And do they know me? I don't think so. Therefore should they take a jab at someone who has never done anything to them in their entire lives? Absolutely not. And I definitely do not condone such behavior because it is childish, uncalled for and absolutely rude.

It doesn't reflect well on you as a person, and it definitely does not reflect well on your parents' upbringing. And if they're so conceited to think they'll get into anywhere they want with that kind of attitude, they are sorely mistaken. (PS. Yes the girls were dancers and this is a view not just shared by me, but by their dance seniors who think that they need to sort out their attitudes)

Because if there is anything that my parents have taught me it is to have basic manners and not to offend others despite their physical appearance or status in life. And if there is anything that I should be respectful to people even when they sometimes do not seem to commandeer my respect. You don't see me rolling my eyes at teachers when they're giving me a lecture, do you?

No, because I have basic manners. And my parents have brought me up properly.

ugh