“Papunta ka palang. Pabalik na ako.” That is what we nine times out of ten hear from grown-ups as we share ideas and experiences with them. That is what my mom told me last night during a long sermon mass after trying to make an excuse of why I was five minutes late for my curfew. That is even what my ears perceive our neighbor shouts to her children every night. It spells out, “You’re still on your way, and I’m already going back.” Well, of course, that is true. With the years they have in their pockets, what do we [the younger ones] know?
Humans have tendencies, and this is one of them- the tendency for older people to act superior over the younger ones. Cain experienced it; Noah’s children went through it; and even the young Hitler had to hear the deafening hourly sermons of his parents. I am sure as sunset that every single teenager in the world has to deal with this natural tendency. They have roamed the earth longer, breathe deeper and walk slower, does this mean they know the secret to happiness? Does this mean they rule in their own rights?
I do not despise adults. I love them. We, the teenagers, cannot survive a day without them. Not only to they pay my tuition fee, phone bills, and lifestyle- they also in fact amuse me.
The adults say, “studies first, friends later”. For them, education is much more important than ‘barkada’ [friends]. I do not disagree. Good education is in direct equation to good job opportunities. This is what they say we should focus on, not the relationship and interaction we encounter with fellow men. Some adults, they concentrate on their jobs so they could earn, earn and earn- friends later. Some, however, do not practice what they preach. Amusing, is it not?
Adults consider teenage love stories the silliest of articles. They do not consider them real love. Stuff toys and love notes seem so childish and pathetic. Even the occasional holding of hands looks inane. Adults say only they know what real love is—they, who some, only see their spouses during breakfast and bedtime; some who forget anniversaries; some of them who have not understood the lines between lyrics of love songs; they who have not felt the warmth of the hug of their companions for days. Amusing, is it not?
“What on earth are you wearing?” screamed old-fashioned grown-ups after seeing young boys wearing baggy pants and untied sneakers, or girls wearing their hairs down for the wind to sway. The young generations’ fashion taste is a million mile far different from that of the older ones. Grandparents say we dress inappropriately. Our choice for clothes is indigestible. Classic is always en vogue. Yesterday, I saw a couple of teachers in the hall and I thought: don’t they look good in those rock-hard ironed suits? And those pencil skirts, just imagine how fast they could run in an emergency. Not to mention hairstyles sleeker than a road splashed with oil. Amusing, is it not?
“Children should not meddle into adult talks,” said the elderly. For they are the ones who know the rules, they are the ones who make the rules. They run the government and look over the world. May I ask, are the children the only one who breaks the rules? Are the children the ones who corrupt? Are the children the ones starting the war? Amusing, I might say.
They do deserve our respect. They do deserve our time. But they have to take into consideration that we too deserve their respect and that we too deserve their time. Their voices are just as loud as ours. Their dreams are just as real as ours. Their logics are just as true as ours. Yes, time has given them the credit to be more experienced, to be more knowledgeable on facts. But some things about them that seem to go against what they should be defined. They not only get arthritis and diabetes, they are also too vulnerable to the sad case of close mindedness.
Is it not amusing how happy adults pretend to be despite the factors that they unconsciously create that halts them from being so? Is it not just too droll that they focus on facts than real life itself so that they could say they have a life? Whose smiles are real smiles? If you are an adult or you believe to be one, go look in the mirror and see- inhale the truth. The day I will have to add digits to my age, I will not close my mind to what is real. Ignorance will not be my friend.
Despite everything, adults still rule. Literally.
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