Blogging on a Monday is an unusual phenomenon, but that’s because we were spending Friday reflecting. Regardless, let’s still review the week.
We presented last week. Our presentations were about our experiences job shadowing. I found them all to be enjoyable for some reason or another – I was never good at picking favorites.
I think I did not half bad, myself.
Now, on Friday, we also had advisory videos regarding kindness and compassion. In these videos, they took all sorts of people and had them talk about their own experiences on this earth. I enjoyed this video.
I left my old school for a number of reasons, many being due to discrimination. All sorts of things made my stomach churn daily – Maybe it was my “friends” calling me disrespectful terminology used for Japanese people. Maybe it was jabs being made at my sexuality or gender. Maybe it was how I dressed, maybe it was how I looked. I grinned and rolled with the punches, and sometimes I shot some back.
I think respect is important. For everyone, yes, but equality is not yet a universal thing. Marginalized groups are still just that – Marginalized. I know there are many LGBT students in this school. I bet many considered being on that video. I bet many backed out because of the fear of being harassed. After all, there was only one in the video talking about being LGBT. More power to them.
And my point further stands that in the face of people coming out to ask for basic respect, a majority laughed at the video. My whole class did. They claimed it was for other reasons, but I’m nearly certain I know exactly why they did laugh.
I think respect is important. I implore those who think otherwise to put themselves in other’s shoes.
I also very much appreciate people of color and an autistic person for being on the video and being courageous enough to say something against descrimination. My respect to them.
On a more positive note – Thanksgiving is coming up! I’m excited – I love food, even if my siblings are loud.
This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful that I no longer am TOO hindered by my old food allergies. I’m also thankful for my closest friends (the ones who were there for me even when things were really rough, and just all my friends in general), my dog, my birds, and dusk. I’m thankful for the afternoon sun glancing off the magnolia leaves (it looks like an ocean), the trees and how they sound when moved by the breeze, the smell of smoke carried aloft by a crisp fall breeze, and most importantly, that I am able to know of what the Native Americans were forced to give up for us. My apologies to them. I am in their debt.
I hope you all have good Thanksgivings. I also hope you all have good weeks as well.
Catch you on the flip side.