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".

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

"And whoever is happy will make others happy too. He who has courage and faith will never perish in misery." -Anne Frank

Anne Frank's astonishing and lucid life undertaking reached me through one of the best movies in my list, Freedom Writers that is starred by Hilary Swank. A fragment of Anne's story was discussed in the said movie and in fact, some of the actors even read several of the many heart-breaking excerpts from the book. Upon getting enlightened by her unbelievable story, I knew right then and there that I had to get a copy of this book. Actually, it took a few years before I got a hard-copy of it but it was worth the wait. 

Imagine a life inside a small box.

Pitch-black.

Uncomfortable.

Desolate.

A life of nothingness.

This was the kind of life Anne Frank had to live in. Generally, she was living a blissful life as a 13 year old girl and then one day, everything seemed to have turned upside down and the only life she knew how to live was suddenly nabbed from her. She was forced to go through a kind of living that any 13 year old doesn't deserve.

It was in the year 1942, the time when Nazis was still occupying Holland, the time when Anne and her family had to flee from their home in Amsterdam and hide. It didn't take long before they were traced and had to live with another family in what they labelled as the "Secret Annexe" located in an old office building. They had to endure hunger, boredom and the consequences of living in confined dwellings and worst, the possible discovery of their whereabouts that could lead into death.

Upon reading Anne's diary chapter after chapter drew me to so many questions. Why did they have to live through such a gruesome life if they could have lived otherwise? Why did they have to suffer even if there was an option not to let them? Why did a lot of people have to die even if they didn't have to? It was an issue of arrogance, greed of power and discrimination that led to the sufferings of a 13 year old dreamer and I am pretty sure there were a lot of Anne Franks out there whose dreams were cut short too because of the fact that there were some people who couldn't live without mercilessly putting innocent people through such terrible ordeal.

Through Anne's diary I learned to love more. To love people regardless of color, culture and personal belief. There are myriad of reasons why we're living in such a chaotic world and one of the reason is because we can't accept the fact that people are different and most importantly we can't learn to love people for who they are. If we could just learn to love one another and be kind to another, we can move mountains and definitely bestow peace that has never been given to this ever-deranged world of ours.

This book is an eye-opener and an inspiration to anybody.

By the way, as I was reading this book, I took the time to take note of my favorite quotes from her diary.

MY FAVORITE QUOTES FROM THE BOOK:

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature."

"As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles."

"Riches can all be lost, but that happiness in your own heart can only be veiled, and it wills till bring you happiness again, as long as you live. As long as you look fearlessly up into the heavens, as long as you know that you are pure within, and that you will still find happiness."

"Go outside, to the fields, enjoy nature and the sunshine, go out and recapture happiness in yourself and in god. Think of all the beauty that's still left in and around you and be happy."

"And whoever is happy will make others happy too. He who has courage and faith will never perish in misery."

"I can shake off everything if I write;my sorrow disappears, my courage is reborn. I can recapture everything when I write, my thoughts, my ideals, and my fantasies."

"Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction."

"Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands."