I was recently sitting in Starbucks waiting for a ride home from my lovely mother. I had planned to stay in the coffee joint and work on some homework, but my attempt was foiled by the arrival of a flock of middle schoolers.
Now I was in their very situation only four years ago, but that's a quarter of my life, so nonetheless, their behavior was striking.
What did I feel when I looked at these pockmarked terrors? Nostalgia for the earlier part of my youth? Fondness for their duckling-like qualities?
Nope.
I felt a strong belief in Darwinism.
Not only did they display the classic big fish eats little fish scenario. They displayed humanity at its nastiest.
I watched a larger boy physically sit on a younger one for the attentions of a girl. I watched pre-pubescent outcasts sit in the corner and quietly plot their bloody revenge on society. I watched girls get into real, I'm-not-even-joking catfights.
It was an eye-opening experience. Perhaps I'll never recover.
The incident does, however, make me wonder what adults see when they observe my the interactions of my friends and I...and I think, "hey, maybe we're not all that bad in their eyes."
Then I come to my senses.
So, to all those who are older than me: I am so so sorry.
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