Credit Where Credit is Due
I never want to be an adult.
This is, of course, disregarding my being of legal age which definitively makes me an adult, and referring largely to succumbing to the grown-up world of Taxes and Middle-Aged Crises. And, yes, while the latter is still decades away (if at all, hopefully), the former is already a topic my parents have addressed in the recent years, making me panic just a little in terms of Things I Have To Do As A Grown-Up.
While I realise that I will still have time for myself and to enjoy the things I love to do, I still dread the idea that I will possibly wake up in just a few short years with a long-term career, married, and with children, and that sort of commitment is something I'm really not prepared for. I loved being a non-adult, reaping in the perks of child discounts or mooching off my parents (admittedly, a youthful face and some sweet talk means I still do both), but there is still one particular aspect of being an adult that terrifies me, which, setting aside the whole Taxes thing, is the fact that adults seem so dismissive of anyone who isn't One of Them.
I've seen this all too many times, especially when I have the afore-mentioned youthful face, but was only really reminded of it last week when I was dragged to my old school's musical production of a live-orchestral, steampunk version of Into the Woods (musical by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine), where the staff were appropriately showered in praise for their hard work, at the expense of two fourteen-year-olds who played astonishingly well their respective roles as the Witch and Little Red.
This frustrated me, more so as later that week I walked into an establishment and was greeted in a patronising tone one might use to address a middle-school student. The worst I've encountered, however, was a year ago when I'd travelled to the city centre to re-schedule plane tickets and been snubbed at by the solitary staff member at the desk - whether this was because I looked young or whether the service there is consistently terrible, I suppose I'll never know, but I shall still view it as her envy at me having my whole life to go yet.
Admittedly, I've been guilty of this. Working in the food service industry, I have, on occasion, disregarded children with the assumption that they are with parents or are not looking for service, often as they appear so unsure of themselves, or are unaware of the procedures. But, it is a learning process, and making a point of asking every person and being rejected is far better feeling than knowing I've left a kid nervously waiting for the past ten minutes.
Certainly, children are extremely attentive, and it frustrates me seeing them dismissed for the reason that they are younger, thus they may not understand. They are extremely sharp, and, usually quieted by parents, often pick up on things that adults fail to. Now, having all the time in the world and being exposed to so many facts and opinions through thousands of different sites and media, combined with a very open mind, means that there are many a time that a child has been more insightful than their parental counterpart.
I think this is what I fear most: slowly becoming numb to my juniors and disregarding them all the while expecting respect because I was born a few years earlier. When I say I never want to be an adult, I mean that I never want to be a person who is so fixated in their opinion that they can no longer be influenced in their views due to age-induced self-entitlement. No, let me be a child. I'd rather be considered immature than stubborn.
This is, of course, disregarding my being of legal age which definitively makes me an adult, and referring largely to succumbing to the grown-up world of Taxes and Middle-Aged Crises. And, yes, while the latter is still decades away (if at all, hopefully), the former is already a topic my parents have addressed in the recent years, making me panic just a little in terms of Things I Have To Do As A Grown-Up.
While I realise that I will still have time for myself and to enjoy the things I love to do, I still dread the idea that I will possibly wake up in just a few short years with a long-term career, married, and with children, and that sort of commitment is something I'm really not prepared for. I loved being a non-adult, reaping in the perks of child discounts or mooching off my parents (admittedly, a youthful face and some sweet talk means I still do both), but there is still one particular aspect of being an adult that terrifies me, which, setting aside the whole Taxes thing, is the fact that adults seem so dismissive of anyone who isn't One of Them.
I've seen this all too many times, especially when I have the afore-mentioned youthful face, but was only really reminded of it last week when I was dragged to my old school's musical production of a live-orchestral, steampunk version of Into the Woods (musical by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine), where the staff were appropriately showered in praise for their hard work, at the expense of two fourteen-year-olds who played astonishingly well their respective roles as the Witch and Little Red.
This frustrated me, more so as later that week I walked into an establishment and was greeted in a patronising tone one might use to address a middle-school student. The worst I've encountered, however, was a year ago when I'd travelled to the city centre to re-schedule plane tickets and been snubbed at by the solitary staff member at the desk - whether this was because I looked young or whether the service there is consistently terrible, I suppose I'll never know, but I shall still view it as her envy at me having my whole life to go yet.
Admittedly, I've been guilty of this. Working in the food service industry, I have, on occasion, disregarded children with the assumption that they are with parents or are not looking for service, often as they appear so unsure of themselves, or are unaware of the procedures. But, it is a learning process, and making a point of asking every person and being rejected is far better feeling than knowing I've left a kid nervously waiting for the past ten minutes.
Certainly, children are extremely attentive, and it frustrates me seeing them dismissed for the reason that they are younger, thus they may not understand. They are extremely sharp, and, usually quieted by parents, often pick up on things that adults fail to. Now, having all the time in the world and being exposed to so many facts and opinions through thousands of different sites and media, combined with a very open mind, means that there are many a time that a child has been more insightful than their parental counterpart.
I think this is what I fear most: slowly becoming numb to my juniors and disregarding them all the while expecting respect because I was born a few years earlier. When I say I never want to be an adult, I mean that I never want to be a person who is so fixated in their opinion that they can no longer be influenced in their views due to age-induced self-entitlement. No, let me be a child. I'd rather be considered immature than stubborn.
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