RESPECT: Do I have to spell it out for you?

When I was in grade school, one of my teachers told me that I was very talkative in class. In fact, I didn't find out straight from her but from my Mom when she came to a Parents Conference in school where teachers talk to parents about their children and their performance in class including their behavior. I thought it couldn't get any worse than finding out that I was labeled the motor-mouth in class but I was wrong. As far as my memory can bring me, my favorite teacher was actually the one who broke the news to my mom and was probably hoping my Mom would do something about me being such a nuisance during class discussions. I wouldn't have taken the incident too seriously if it was caused by one of the unlikable teachers on my list, but the sad thing is, it wasn't. It was caused by the teacher that I look up to, the teacher that doesn't shake my nerves when she enters the classroom, the teacher that was simply nice to me.

I can't recall what my Mom did or what she told me when she discovered my behavior in class but what I can vividly remember is the feeling of disappointment when I realized that I have brought two of the few important people in my life down. First was my favorite teacher and then my mom. I knew that they were expecting so much from me and all I could  to repay them was nothing but a pocketful of annoyance from a seemingly uncontrollable mouth of mine. After going through a painful road to realization, I think it was the first time that I learned how to shut my mouth and keep my late night TV show stories to myself. In other words, I found a more profound meaning to the word RESPECT. It wasn't just about knowing how to say the words 'PO' and 'OPO' in conversing with adults but it was also about being sensitive of other people's feelings. 

I thought when people grow older the more respectful they become to other people but based on what I've been witnessing for the past few weeks, I am starting to doubt if that is true.

There's this class that I attend every Monday and Thursday. The instructor is actually kind enough to let his students make noise in class. He usually continues with his lecture despite a dozen of unruly motor-mouths in the room. It isn't just about the noise they make but for some of them, it is about the way they talk to the instructor. It's an apparent disrespect to those who want to learn and most importantly to the instructor who's speaking in class. I get so irritated that I want to stand up and tie their tongues together and make one big knot. I bet that will teach them a lesson.

And then there's another class I attend every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday where my classmates are not actually as noisy as the other class I mentioned (but they still are and it also annoys me). One day we were asked to copy notes because the instructor wouldn't be able to give handouts for that particular lesson. I looked around and nobody was copying. They were all busy talking about trivial stuff. How in the hell are they going to pass the major exam if they don't copy the only thing in the world that would save them from falling to a bottomless pit? I mean, do they even care about the money their parents are spending for their education? Most importantly, they clearly ignored the instruction that was given to us and didn't mind what the instructor would feel about it.

Some people who may get to this point of my blog might think, "Oh alright, I'M SORRY MR. PERFECTION". Let me tell you, I am completely aware of my strengths and weaknesses and having known my weaknesses as a person, makes me an imperfect person and I'm fine being imperfect.

However, I have one thing not everybody has and that is RESPECT.

A friend of mine told me that I better stop making other people's problems my problem. I actually tried doing so but I just couldn't stop myself from noticing what reality keeps on shoving on my face. Whenever I see situations like these, it brings me back to that very day of my childhood when I was feeling nothing but pure disappointment.

I honestly feel sorry for my instructors who have to go through this and I also feel sorry for those students whom I have no idea when will respect cross their mind. 

Thank you for taking time to read and like what Ellen Degeneres says all the time in her show, "BE KIND TO ONE ANOTHER" and by "be kind" she may also mean "BE RESPECTFUL".