These are the Million Reasons I wrote during my stead at Centenary College. A lot of these reference events that occurred during my schooling so I couldn’t really change some of the material to make it more applicable to my life now. I figured I’d keep them to showcase my pre-graduate days.
A Million Reasons: To Watch What You Say
As I was racking my brain for a potential topic that I could speak to all of you ladies and gents about this week, a little birdie told me I should introduce everyone to the idea of watching what they say. Okay, this “birdie” came in the form of a conversation I happened to overhear about someone doing something with someone else and then someone else telling somebody about that something and then that something turned into a big whatever.
For the returners, this news is potentially old news. But I think it may help with whatever endeavor or gossip someone decides to take on. For the newbs, please take this wise advice. I’d hate for you to have to learn the hard way about Centenary’s amazing gossip mill.
Everyone knows the Golden Rule: Treat people as you would have them treat you. Yeah, yeah, old news right? It seems we’ve forgotten this essential rule and instead we continue to treat people however we choose to see fit.
I’ve spoken without thinking on multiple occasions. My mom likes to call it “talking when my brain falls out of my mouth”. I can’t count how many times I decide my opinion is the only right opinion present at the time when I decide to claim something is either A) stupid or B) pointless. Yeah sure, it’s my opinion – I have a right to it –but I forget to recognize the differing ideas that tend to be around me. To save yourself from hardship I would advise never talking about how stupid a paper in your Southern Lit class is if your teacher is standing two feet away from you. I would also discourage everyone from talking about how crappy the café is while café workers are near. Death glares, and potentially fatal items might be found in your freshly baked macaroni and cheese.
Another example of “talking when your brain falls out” would be consoling a friend through terms of degrading another. This may sound oddly specific but I think almost everyone –to an extent –has consoled one person by telling them that they’re better than the person that caused the need for consolation. I experienced this my freshman year when my friend was bummed out about some boy that didn’t hold her in the same regard as she held him. Instead of me serenading her to the tune of “Too Many Fish in the Sea”, I decided to take a more humorous approach and say: “Whatever, he’d look awkward naked anyway.”
It was a seemingly harmless joke. I never actually visualize the guy naked; I just wanted to go with something that would be shocking enough to snap her out of her sorrows and make her laugh. Alas, friend thought it was a great idea to tell the boy what I said. Then came a very long Facebook message detailing the ways I had wronged him. Whoops. Needless to say, me and friend aren’t really friends anymore.
Always be aware of those that surround you. When someone tells you they have ovarian cancer do not attempt to break the ice by jokingly saying you have cancer too when you don’t. Trying to relate through humorous terms on these occasions probably isn’t the best approach. You will more than likely receive uncomfortable glances from the people who know you do not have cancer and teary eyes from those that feel they’ve found a co-sufferer. Sometimes –I don’t even – there’s no excuse.
One key thing to remember, if you’re in a public area like at the frat houses, James Lobby, or the café and you want something to be kept a secret choose your location more wisely. Don’t go to your frat house and complain about your RA when you know for a fact that her floor partner is a brother of that fraternity. If you simply don’t care, I would still suggest conspiring against her in a more private location so she doesn’t know that you’re planning to vandalize her door.
I would also suggest putting yourself in the position of the said person being gossiped about to see –if you were in that position –how you would feel. You’ll probably think twice before you tell someone how ugly their outfit is when you realize they probably spent all morning trying to match something to their sparkly chartreuse pants.
As a campus, we seem to have a problem with things that are different. Instead of addressing our issues we resort to childish measures and gossip about it rather than talking to the person to see their real motives behind the said “difference.” We all can talk without our brain; if we all made more of an effort this campus would cease being a gossip pit and instead be made of giant pools of love and harmony.
A Million Reasons 