Platitudes

If You Just Act Like Your Self Every One Will Like You. Everyone Is Different. We Should All Be Friends.

Have you ever heard such BS? I mean we spout these things over and over again to our youth even though we all know it's just platitudes which amount to nothing. What if I'm an unapologetic communist vegetarian liberal? I doubt that Rush Limbaugh would want to be my life long bud.

I bet you told your parents that they just "Have to let you be your own person" you felt like you were unique, your poetry was a revelation. We are not unique, and there is nothing wrong with that. Once we realize this we can start realizing that your neighbors problems are most likely similar to your own. We are not alone in the world.

Now of course everyone does have differences but we have far more similarities with each other than we are differences. There is a reason why we have the word average-because most people are.

And no, we should not all be friends. Simply because we should not feel compelled to be around people we do not like. I do not like a lot of people, yes, I'm cofterable with that.



Yesterday I was sitting on the second floor of a Barnes and Nobles. Sitting alone at one of the tables was a guy in gangsta clothing totally engrossed in this rather large book.

I went back there because I didn't want people to walk in on me doing tarot card readings for my two Friends. I was afraid they would judge me, tell my mother, or any number of things. I simply didn't want anyone to see what I was doing. I chose the seat in the back next to this kid because I was fairly sure he wouldn't be disturbed by quiet conversation.

We sat down and I laid down the cloth and started shuffling the cards. Next thing I knew I heard the scraping of metal against the floor. The kid had quickly gotten up and left in a nervous huff.

"Hey" Said Caleb, "I just though you'd be interested in knowing that kid was very engrossed in that Calvin and Hobbs book."

"What?!" Rachel and I said in unison.

"Yeah, Calvin and Hobbs."

I think that the better things to teach our young is Act Like Yourself And If They Don't Like You They Don't Matter, Embrace Our Differences And More So Our Similarities, We Should All Treat People and Their Ideas With Respect No Matter Who They Are.