I went to
fifth hour like I always do, but things were just a
little different. There's a guy who sits behind me,
spindly,
intelligent,
too young to be in high school and a little
nerdy, the kind of person that you knew or
made fun of or
were in high school. Two
jocks were accosting him, per usual, and per usual it bothered me. Today, however, they were being more than
oafish and
spiteful, they were being
ignorant too. One says, "So, do you read a lot of books, Carl?" in a mocking, almost
sing song tone that makes you immeadiately aware that not only are they being
rude, they are being down right
cruel. It also
illustrates their total lack of
wit or originality, and as I stood there I felt their words flow over me. I saw it, as it was,
blunt and
wrong like a
monolith to
idiocy. I remained absolutey stone calm, having not yet garnered their attention. I was everything but out of the
ordinary. I waited, hoping that the
persecuted teenager would stand up for himself. He didn't, and I couldn't take it any more. Not breaking stride, not breaking the moment I say, "How many books have you read? You should try a few, they make you smarter, and then maybe you won't say things like you just did." And those two football players looked at me like I was holding my own
severed head. They didn't say anything, they went away.
The
moral? If there's one, there are a few. Don't be
stupid or
ignorant because someone will, eventually, call you on it and you'll have nothing to say. Those of people you know who aren't popular or attractive do still matter. And finally,
books are good, read as many as you can, because then you'll know its not
intelligent to insult someone for the amount of
literature and
original thought they have absorbed.