Unfair
I don’t know if it’s because my mind censors things or because I’m wearing particularly red glasses, but I’m having a lot of trouble answering this prompt: “Describe a situation in which you felt that you or others were treated unfairly… Why did it happen? Did you respond and improve the situation?” I always feared that my life would catch up with me. You see, I’ve pretty much had an uneventful life thus far. No signs of storms anywhere.
Take for example my schooling. I attended the very diverse and loving Casa Montessori through sixth grade. I didn’t even know the meaning of race until seventh grade, when my best friend for years was interviewed for being biracial. I didn’t notice before then. I definitely did not witness any racial prejudice.
At home, everything was just fine too. There were arguments as there always are, but they never escalated beyond shouting and closing doors, unless you include spanking.
So you see, I cannot think of much to fit this prompt. After a lot of thinking, I finally remembered something, but it has flaws.
Sometime back in elementary school, I suspect around third grade, there was an incident with another Ijay. We had become friends simply for the fact that we shared an unusual name, and we followed the regular protocols. I visited his house, he came to mine. I distinctly remember playing “Luigi’s Mansion.”
Well, because he was a grade below me, when I transferred to the next classroom, I didn’t see him for a year. During that time, I made friends with a certain Leander, who was very outspoken. He seemed to know pretty much everything, earning him the nickname “Walking Encyclopedia.” He was a good kid, but he did not have much self control.
For whatever reason, Leander took a disliking to Ijay. He would often throw insults (remember, we were in third grade, so I mean things like “Ijay’s so stupid”). The problem was, I did not knew with whom to side. I kind of liked Ijay, but at the same time, Leander was my friend now. While I never participated in the insults, I never defended him either. I was pretty sheepish as I am now, so I would say in a soft voice “He’s not that bad. You shouldn’t say that.” One time, I even said it audibly, but Leander responded “Yes, he is,” and that was the end of that.
Sadly, I stopped going to Ijay’s house and stopped talking to him for the most part. I would say “Hi,” but not much beyond that. Then one day, out of the blue, he told me “Hey Ijay, listen. I’m moving to California in one week.” I felt really bad then. Perhaps I felt that I could make amends with him at a later time, but it really hurt that he was just telling me this a week before he left!
At that point I realized I had to fix things. I invited myself to his house and we played. We played together well. We were climbing over a fence when suddenly he stopped and confronted me. “Hey Ijay, why did you stop talking to me?” I fumbled for a response, but eventually I apologised. Man that reminds me of The Kite Runner. I had made a mistake following Leander without questioning. I will never forget after my mum came to pick me up, overhearing her conversation with the other Ijay’s mum. His mum said, “It’s a shame. The Ijays were such great friends. I don’t know what happened.”
And that’s all that happened. Yes, I feel horrible about it now, but as Wake inputted, “You guys were, like, nine. I don’t think you can be held accountable for that.” I learned my morals the hard way. I saw how badly I could hurt people’s feelings. Sometimes your friends don’t get along, but you don’t have to choose. I’m going to keep digging around for stories, but do you think I could do something with this?
Today's appropriate song of the day is brought to you by Olafur Arnalds. He writes really cool music. Lost song.