Monday, October 01, 2007

Rules Against

Today I was reprimanded for standing on a chair.

I finally figured it out. I wouldn't book anyone else who stepped on a chair because I don't see it as disrespecting the formality of the occasion. It was just the fastest route from A to B. I admit climbing over the chairs would have been a better move, but it's been done. And I won't do it again, not because I see the action as wrong, but because other people with power and authority don't like me doing it.

What is the deal with conformity anyway? A person doesn't have to be like everybody else, wearing the same things, behaving the same way. What have you people got against things that aren't normal? I'm cold, so I wear gloves and a hat. It's perfectly justified, and yes I am that cold. I can't wear my jacket, so I wear gloves. I don't give a damn if you're not cold; I am. Why can't I be different from you?

What's the deal with jackets anyway? It's just an overcoat; it's not killing anyone or insulting anybody's religion or disrespecting the formality of the occasion or anything. I don't see what's so important about not having a shield-shaped logo stamped there. Will it compromise national security? Will it reflect negatively on the school's reputation? If you wanted to be so damn uniform about it, why not just plug up everybody in this whole damn universe to a gigantic pulsing brain so that IT controls everything and everything and everyone will be exactly the SAME. Why must you humiliate, shun, repremand me, just because I am different?

IHS was okay. Lang Arts is fail. Physics tomorrow.

I am a thermic resistor: resistance increase proportionately to decrease in temperature
The Edna Man

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi Kevin (and I am saying all this to you only because I trust that as your friend I can tell you what I think of you honestly without you thinking it's a personal attack). While I would agree with you that conformity is stifling, to say the least, and that we all have the right to be different, to express ourselves in the way we want to, standing on a chair in the audi is quite a different matter altogether. I think so at least.

I don't know what Ms Chia said to you specifically but what I want to say is that when you're in a place like the audi, which is school property, the place should at least be accorded basic respect, in the same way a responsible citizen would to public property. Being a responsible citizen, a responsible student is not conformity, but a matter of courtesy. If you step on chairs at home no would bother but if you stepped on a chair in shopping mall it's different. So what if it's the fastest route from A to B? Etiquette is important, not because it makes everyone equal or whatever nonsense, but because it is simply showing respect to the place/persons involved.

I certainly agree with you about the ridiculity of using only school jackets and stuff like that, but don't confuse public etiquette with conformity. Admittedly this isn't the most eloquently expressed (funny I can write essays yet struggle to express myself here >_>) but I hope you've grasped my point. Sure, conformity doesn't make everyone equal, I wholeheartedly agree with you, but when you're in a formal situation doing as the formality necessitates is simply being courteous to the host.

All the best for your exams!