This week at my school is 'Acceptance Week.' Yeah, I know, it sounds absolutely moronic. Monday was 'Self-Acceptance Day', Tuesday was 'Disability Acceptance Day', Wednesday was 'Cultural Acceptance Day', and today was 'LGBT Acceptance Day.' So no, this is not fun whatsoever. In fact, most of this week has been all about me putting up with the dumbest s**t of my life.
Not to say that I don't support any of these causes (although Self-Acceptance Day is idiotic), but my school has set up some sort of culture where the slightest disparaging comment is treated as 'unproductive' and 'wrong-minded.' This week has been all about anti-bullying, but what they don't get is that friends can call each other names without it being 'bullying.' I even hate the WORD. Bullying. I choke on my tongue whenever I say it.
Graham Vert
I've been called an asshole, jackass, dipwad, moron, and God damn f**k s**t son of a bitch at school, and you don't see me complaining. That's partly because I can dish it out plenty as well, but also because I'm pretty thick-skinned. But just because a few people have gone to drastic measures (and committed suicide) we've all had to sit through this week.
See... this kind of crap... it pisses me off.
There hasn't been a serious case of bullying at my school for years, but for some reason, people still think it's a problem. You hear stories about Columbine and other school shootings, and the media will say that EVERY HIGH SCHOOL IN THE COUNTRY IS A BREEDING GROUND FOR DISILLUSIONED LONERS WHO WANT TO KILL EVERYBODY!!! AAAAAHHH!!! But as someone who actually GOES to high school every day, I can assure you that that's not the case. In reality, I've never seen something that I would call 'bullying' in my life. EVER. Chew on that for a while.
They even had us write down our own 'Personal Weaknesses', or things about ourselves that we don't like. Then they looped all the pieces of paper into chains and strung them around the tree in the courtyard. It's friggin' awful. All I wrote was "Sorry I couldn't think of anything. Good luck with your... accepting... whatever." I wish I could have been left out of this... F**K...
There are so many other things about this week I'd love to get into... the crappy motivational posters, the asinine pep talks... the vows of silence... all that ridiculous bulls**t. But I'd like to focus on Cultural Acceptance Day (or as sane people call it, Wednesday). Yesterday, people came to school dressed up in costumes denoting their culture. I actually thought about wearing a beret and waving a white flag while yelling "OUI OUI OUI! UN BAGUETTE! WE SURRENDAIR!" But I couldn't find a store that will sell chain-smoking cigarettes to minors. Anyway, some Israeli and Palestinian students were flown in from the Middle East to play ultimate frisbee.
Yeah, that's right-- ULTIMATE FRISBEE. Apparently, the two historically polarized ethnic groups have finally put aside their differences for a game of frisbee. I would have played, but I was a little nervous that s**t would start blowing up. However, I did get to yell at a German exchange student for invading France. So that was a plus.
Altogether, this has been a thoroughly unproductive and frustrating week for me. I would like to thank the Ross Valley School System and its infinite wisdom for making this all possible. Until next time the school board pisses me off, bye!
