Rhapsody-19

RESPECT ME.

I deserve your respect because my mother decided to have me years before you came along.

Not because I have impeccable character, great values, a well-rounded personality, or that I strive to be an upright and moral citizen. Simply because I'm older than you and therefore I do not have to earn your respect in any way.

Earning respect? How ridiculous.

Everyone knows you're born with it.




...


I understand the whole respect your elders bit, I honestly and wholeheartedly do. But here's my train of thought on why we are told to respect our elders. (No one ever questions these things, do they?)

People whom are older than me have experienced more of what life has to offer than I have. With experience comes knowledge, and with knowledge comes wisdom (hopefully). They have been in similar situations as I am finding myself in; because they have overcome these obstacles, they can look back at their experiences in retrospect, while I must look at my situations in intraspect. All in all, I believe the "respect your elders" notion comes from the fact they have simply experienced more than I have, are more knowledgeable than I, and can, in a way, predict my future by looking back at their past.

That's all good and dandy.

But.

How do I respect a person older when said person acts younger than I? How do I respect a person when I can't help but think that this person has lived several more years than I have but has gained nothing from their experiences? Why should I respect someone who repeatedly asks for it but never thinks to earn it?

I will earn my respect in speech, in life, in love, faith, and purity.

My "elders" can earn theirs in wisdom, in leadership, in humility, kindness, and maturity.

I'll give my respect to older people from the minute I meet them; they'll lose it if they're nothing more than a child that found its way into an adult's body.

I can feel my mind is changing. Before, I'd obey whatever I was told without so much as a single complaint. Now, I'm questioning why I do things at every turn, challenging every command I'm given.

I wish I had more time to be just another stupid kid, doing stupid kid things. I don't particularly want to be an "influential part of the teenage rebellion against low standards", or a heartwarming youth speaker standing before hundreds of thousands of people, or even the leader of a group of kids in an everyday situation. I want to enjoy my time as a youth, not use it as a mini-adult field run. I've got all my life to be a mature adult, and I've been living as one this whole time; what I want now is to live up my last few years as just another kid.

But it's never about what I want.

I'm just a regular brat, making rude and obnoxious comments at every turn.


Very very very few people know a little more about me than I let everyone else see. Because very very very few people are more than just pretty words and empty promises.


All my life I've been good
But now I'm thinking, what the hell?
All I want is to mess around
And I don't really care about
If you love me, if you hate me