A Letter to My Thoughtless Friends
To those 8-10 students who always ‘discuss’ in the discussion room;
To those who love gossiping in the library, talking about their plans after exams so loud it could be heard from six tables behind;
To the roommates of ours who enjoy catching up with friends during the wee-hours and switching the main light in their compartment or common area on for the whole night to study;
To those friends and roommates whom we allow to use our appliances or books but then feign ignorance when they had caused damage to it;
To those who leave their soup-filled bowls for public display and olfaction, procrastinating for days to wash them;
And definitely not to forget, those who leave their “unfinished businesses (because there’s more than one)” floating in toilet bowls or splattered pee – even when the toilet flush is actually working;
And the list goes on and on.
This letter is for you – and others, who can relate to me.
I am writing for all those times that I try to find any good reasons I could think of to not judge them; to be considerate towards them. It got to the point that I ran out of any reason I could think of to empathize, thereby losing my sanity.
At times I wonder if I am being overly sensitive about this and that any other person might say “come on, take a chill pill, will you, “mom”?” They would say that there are more important things in this world and all I do is nag at ‘petty’ things. But then, I think we can agree to disagree on that matter. I am sincere of the view that they are not petty things. No, not because I so deeply want to win this argument. In fact, it is rather petty how people want to justify a red flag when they know they should actually acknowledge that there is a red flag in the first place - red flags when it comes to one’s common sense. Now, how can I have “common sense” when one has lost their common sense? It probably wouldn’t work, right?
So, if it is truly bothering you, the question then becomes: Why don’t you fight for your rights that have been bruised and abused?
Well honestly, it is hard. To take the lead, to not care what people think of you and just do it because as much as you know what is right, it is still far from reach. I can relate, because even as a law student myself, I’m embarrassed to admit that on some days I do not have the courage to speak out, physically. To tell people off that “can you be a bit quieter, I can hear all your stories from the corner over there” or “can you wash your bowls and not leave it overnight?”. There is no collective support to change the wrongs into rights. It makes me think that maybe I am just being paranoid about it. Perhaps if I posted about this online, there would be more opposers over supporters even if the topic is about common sense. There would be people saying that this would be a waste of time reading as it is more of a rant of prolonging misery than actually solving a problem.
However, why do we have to consider other people’s feelings whilst these people don’t realize how bothersome their actions can be or how it affects others' well-being or state of mind. Aren’t these all common sense after all?
Then comes the second question: Why write to address when it most likely still cannot be solved?
Because there are still people who forget their common sense when embarking on becoming (seemingly) educated adults. These people need a wake-up call. A classic hypothesis can be seen through all the highlighted ‘common-sense’ situations above that occurs frequently. Are we proud to call ourselves adults or university graduates when we clearly fail to master the first basic package of humanity - hygiene, empathy, and understanding - a common sense which we have learned all our life?
Isn’t it sad to realize that we have yet to master that rule which is far worse than animals without ‘aql, if I may add? Sadly, the truth or reality is ugly after all. It is no wonder Robert G. Ingersoll had once said:
“It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense”
So now, I ask myself again why try when you know it’s bound to fail? Because it’s necessary and badly needed. I humbly ask you to carefully make good choices.
From one who may be lacking senses,
to common sense,
and people lacking them
out there.
Commentaires