Here's a fact: some people are blessed with a good upbringing. Others are not. Some have had the opportunities to be financially stable and therefore had an easier time growing up. Others have not. Some people could take full advantage of the educational system offered in the good 'ol USA. Some can not. Finally, some people despise those who are fortunate. Are those people right to? Maybe. Though they really should try to get the whole story first before being so quick to judge, because you'll just end up looking like the jolly green giant. Except you're jealous. Jealous green giant. Lettuce green giant. I don't know where this is going.
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| What a jerk. |
The common phrase for those who are born a little more than just well off are said to be "born with a silver spoon (in his/her mouth)." Implying of course the spoon is primarily used in the mouth. Silver back then was apparently a sign of wealth, and if you could afford to eat with silver spoons (or be fed by them) you might as well be suckling the teat of the Gods. Drink up that delicious nectar. I don't know why everyone is beating around the bushes, let's just call this group of people spoiled. No spoons involved. We'll keep the silver though. We need those. For werewolves.
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| Die demon! |
If you haven't guessed already, I've struck up a conversation with that same co-worker referred to a couple of posts ago. Another hot topic that's brought up between our different upbringings. I grew up in a well-off (NOT RICH) town in Jersey, while he spent most of his childhood in Southern Ohio. Yes, it was very different, but I'm not one to brag about how well I was brought up. He and I got to know each other on this basis, and I guess it didn't really seem to bother him until one day a co-worker and I were discussing some physical chemistry and he happened to listen upon it. (You should know that he only has an Associates Degree). He had mentioned how he was never taught, and somehow it spiraled into this whole rant about pride. A quick disclaimer: I reserve the right to my own opinions, but will never discourage you about the pride you carry.
Let's get one thing straight. Everyone is or has the opportunity to be better at something than you, and they have a right to. The way this rant went seemed to me like he was justifying his life for not growing up as well off as I or my other co-worker did. He would go on to say how he could win in a fight, how he's seen death, mocking society by belittling them - and consequently us - through his devout faith in Christianity (I may have used some words wrong in that), all in all he was defending his pride because I was walking around with a degree and he spent his life gaining experience in all the wrong places. By the tone of his voice, you could tell that he was starting to get a little irate just staring at us. Then I just had to say it.
"Listen, don't be mad because our parents worked hard to give us the life we fell into."
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| Yes, Shaniqua. I'm pretty sure I did. |
I'm sure he was steaming mad, but it just got the job done. He stopped talking and we did our best to try and change the subject. It's become a bad environment for the workplace. That's when I got to thinking about writing this blog.
We all grow up in different ways. Like I said previously, I'm not one to discourage you about how you were brought up, good or bad. What matters is that you take pride in taking the best out of the situation you were given. Case in point: both my other co-worker and I had hard working parents in order to provide us with a stable life, environment, and education. How do we act? We finish college, and get a job. The Ohio native, had experienced terrible things, but worked up the power to give himself an associates, move out to NJ, get married and have the life his parents couldn't give him. Wonderful! Good endings for both parties. However...
If you think for one second you're better than me or the world because of what you went through, you're wrong. Dead wrong. What you've been through doesn't entitle you to be bitter towards me for "being born with a silver spoon." Sure my life may have been easier than yours, but I still worked hard to get where I am today. The steps you take to get to where you are should be something you take pride in, not something you can use to prove you're better. At the end, we're all in the same office, working for the same company. Salary? That's for another day.
