Chapter Portion - "Power"

In everything I've experienced, the more I see this, the deeper it cuts into me. Perhaps I shouldn't let it bother me, but it does. Tonight, I experienced for the umpteenth time the immaturity of those who find themselves so and the powers that they believe they have.

To start out, I would just like to point out that maturity is never given. It's grown. Those people out there that say they're absolutely mature are the ones who are oblivious to the concept of maturity. In my opinion, maturity is not having to say it. People always say that they're mature, and some have told me that I'm not, mind you, then they go out and make complete donkeys -think of a synonym and you'll get my point- of themselves. It infuriates me because this is a blatant representation of being hypocritical. I myself think -not believe; I want that to be perfectly clear- that maturity is never complete. A person that claims to be totally mature is in retrospect immature; to believe that a person can be completely mature is a farce. I believe -and I mean believe- that a person can be mature in some areas of life, but never in all aspects. I am this way. I can be mature, but I still can "play" on the immature side, and to know this, in my opinion, boosts the overall maturity level of a person -not that there's a clear cut way to quantify so.

The other point that I wish to bring up is the powers that people have, or in this case think they have. In our childhood, we all thought, at one point or another, that we were invincible. A fall down the steps or on the playground quickly reverted that conception. But for some individuals, that reversion never took full effect. Sure, no teenager thinks that physically that they're invincible; we know we can get hurt. But mentally, some think that they're invincible, invulnerable, and impervious to the world. Some think that they can get away with near everything just as long as they don't get caught, and some are even so good, that they don't get caught.

I'm speaking in terms of underage drinking, the illegal possession and use of certian drugs, and et cetra. But what if I was speaking in terms of the so-called "freedom of speech". Tonight, or this morning technically, I witnessed the misuse of speech. Tonight I thought that I was simply going to strangle, slam, break, kick, maim, or snap a certian individual that I found that crossed the line. He and a bunch of his mildly to overly inebriated buddies were "hanging out" and they invited me. I accepted not really knowing what to expect. After smelling a few people as they rambled on about a few unintelligible subjects, they switched their focus to being guys, hormone-driven man-w****s, and in which intoxicated women became involved verbally, and in one case physically. I just stood back in awe as they proceeded to skip the woo-ing phase and delve into inappropriate messaging. That right there got me a little angered for what they were doing is exactly why guys have the reputation of being horny pigs. But that's not the best part.

Then one of them, who shall remain nameless, just started talking out his behind. he made the comment that all Chinese people, him being of Chinese background, are categorized into two groups: the glasses-wearing, unsociable, nerdish Wal-Mart© shopper and the Hollister©-wearing, break dancing, cool guy -the latter being an exact restatement of his self. He went on to vow that he has a mission to convert all of the Chinese nerds -of which he has said on many occasions give the Chinese people a bad reputation- into replicas of him. The odd thing is, he seemed alone in his view in his group. Everyone else chuckled, but didn't follow up. I bet they were either too inebriated to comprehend or he really went over the line.

After he said that, I just thought to myself, "What in hell, heaven, or anywhere between gives you the right to judge anyone but yourself. What gives you the right to vow to change...to monopolize a population. I know he was kidding about that in the context it was said, but he wasn't kidding about the "nerds giving the Chineese people a bad repuation" angle, so I think that he truly wishes he had the power to mold them all into his image. That has to be the most self-centered, egotistical thing I have ever had the misfortune of hearing in my life.

Maturity and power. The best way to sum it all up: we are only as mature as the powers we think we have or the powers we want. 

Reviews

[patricia]

I liked when you said, people can be mature in SOME areas of life. I loved the whole of this ramble...it was a good rant on the injustices we witness. If only we could have such scrutiny and focus on ourselves. Thats the good thing about writing things down. We get to know ourselves much better...a great road to more maturity. I could have read on and on. Loved your unrestricted, let it go style. Thanks.