No one can be that shallow! Can they?

On the way to throw out some old but beloved magazines

While growing up, there are certain things children do not comprehend simply by the virtue of their inexperience and to a degree, their naivety. It therefore falls upon our parents to teach us the ways of the world but in today’s fast revolving world, the axis of responsibility is tilting towards our schools, who are playing an increasing role in teaching children not only educational knowledge, but life skills as well, the IQ and EQ essential to success. Growing up, I posed the question to one of my teachers why I should spend my time at school when I am more capable of achieving the same results just as efficiently and effectively at home. Their answer: I shouldn’t stay at school because the ultimate goal of any educator is to teach people how to teach themselves.

But without schools and the interaction it provided, I would not have learnt all those life skills that if I were to forget them, I would cease to function in any normative sense in society. It is these skills that I use more of now in my later years. I am no longer a youth and as such I am taking a greater responsibility in my education. Growing up, issues of world politics, Brad and Angelina and foreign affairs were just foreign to us. But now, I have come to appreciate the subtly of adult play.

Other issues that I have learnt about include art and architecture, food and fashion, travel and technology. And also about love, lust, sex, STDs, pregnancy, child rearing and because of Live 8, world climate change. And also about war, poverty, disease, famine, pandemic viruses, heartbreak, pain, adultery, betrayal and religion.

It is through life experiences that we learn about these things; things that are not teachable or can be conveyed in the traditional classroom. It is by getting up everyday and living life to the fullest that we come understand and develop respect for these issues and lessons.

That is why it was so surprising when I was left speechless the other day after answering a phone call:

“Hello”
“Who is this?”
“This is tyarrhea”
“Is your mother home?”
“No. May I ask who is calling?”
“A friend. Is your father home?”
“No, they both went out”
“Tell your mother your father is seeing another woman”
“What! What are you talking about? Who are you?”
“.... ....”
“Don’t hang up!”

I was left speechless. Naturally I confronted my father and things weren’t pretty. He severely regretted to having not installed caller ID and my poor mother, she couldn’t stop laughing and was in hysterics with no amount of being told to calm down and keep quiet sufficient to render watching Desperate Housewives comfortably.

So I learnt what it felt like to be a celebrity. It is not a glamorous moment when you are confronted with a silicious rumour and when you have a faceless person on whom legal action cannot be brought against, it makes the pain all just that much worse.

posted by tykang @ 8/02/2005 09:50:00 PM