Three Simple Rules to Make People Hate You (ESSAY)

It's an essay I wrote for a class once, but it's really spiffy so I want to share.

        

Along my travels through life, I haven't made many friends, for many different reasons. Some of these reasons have been of my choice, and some beyond my control. Through the many mistakes I have made in life, I have discovered some very important things about friendship, how to make friends and how to drive them away. Making friends is nothing but an unexplainable series of events that eventually lead to you and one other person discovering you have common interests and values, and thus enjoy spending time together. Actually, the only explainable thing about friendship is what not to do. It's quite simple; in fact, I have condensed it down into three simple rules: honesty, individuality and intelligence.

Rule one: never tell a lie. Yes, that means telling your friend that her haircut looks awful and telling your friend that his girlfriend really doesn't love him anymore. Everyone tells little “white lies” that shield our friends from the awful truth. This process of sugar-coating is still a lie. Most people claim to value honesty, while still telling and being told “white lies.” When you refuse to tell someone that their awful haircut looks good, you tend to upset them and make them hate you. If you want to keep a hold of your values, you will end up alienating everyone around you.

The plus side of complete honesty is that you'll feel like a better person. In the long run, that may not matter to you because most people around you despise you, and some people base their opinion of themselves upon the opinions of other people. For some people, that is how they want to live their lives. As for the others, we value honesty, and we will do anything we can to preserve our integrity and self-worth.

Rule two: be an individual. Refuse to conform to the ideas of society. Be your own person. I don't mean wearing a blue shirt while everyone else wears green. That's not the point. Everyone expresses their individuality in their own way. Some people enjoy wearing bright clothing, dying their hair unnatural colors, driving a bright green car, or simply expressing themselves artistically. The point is that when people express individuality, those around them react in a negative way, particularly when they don't agree with the individual's style.

It is surprising how offended some people can get by the appearance of others. A simple thing like hair color can become the subject of debate, even when the involved persons have never previously met each other. I've seen it happen; it's actually quite comical. Usually, there will be a group of two or more conservative adults, and they will, not as quietly as they think, comment to each other upon the color of the hair of the person in line ahead of them. The person ahead of them will become offended, and turn around and an argument will ensue.

Rule three: be smart. Intelligence isn't everything, but it can make a lot of things easier. Schoolwork is effortless, and you are very good at Trivial Pursuit. However, some people are jealous of you intelligence, even envious at times. They wish that they could ace a test they didn't study for, or understand the concept of chemistry after one lesson.

When you are intelligent, people also try and take advantage of you. They want to borrow your homework to “check their answers,” and then proceed to “forget” where they left your work. Your classmates also constantly bother you for help on their homework. Eventually, you realize that you need to stop lending out your homework and you get used to claiming ignorance or quickly explaining the problem.

There are many kinds of intelligence. Some people are highly skilled with computers. Those people are called to fix a buddy's computer, and some of these people are happy to help. Others grumble and complain at the thought. Some people are highly skilled at English and grammer. Those people are asked to proofread a buddy's term paper, and some are happy to help. Others grumble and complain at the thought. Some people are skilled at science. Those people are first to be picked for lab buddies, and some are happy to participate. Others grumble and complain at the thought.

All of those kind of people find their niches and are happy with them. There are other people who are adept at mostly everything. Those kind of people are the outcasts of society. Some people are happy with that, and turn inwards to satisfy their desires. Those kind of people are highly successful, but all alone. All of these people are hated by their peers, sometimes secretly, for their intelligence.

I have shown how sickeningly brutal the world can be to those who are honest, intelligent, or individual. I believe that these three simple qualities are the leading cause of hatred towards people today.

 

Reviews

[Kaiko]

Very nice. I think everyone can relate to this truth in one way or another. Extremely truthful and powerful. I hope you got an A on this.

Though I am generally pessimistic, I can see the good in these things. It really depends on who you base this all on.

[MadasonBlue]

Ha. This is definitely true. I deal with that kind of crap all the time.
..Well, except for the hair color part. My hair's pretty normal.
I think you did a great job.