Recent Musings:
Cheaters.
Sunday, August 6, 2006
I watched Project Runway the other night; Keith was kicked out for not abiding by the rules. I was glad and thought he received a fair punishment; when you don't abide by the rules, you are to be punished.
I didn't like the pity party he gave himself when apologizing to the other entrants. He acted as if they should feel sorry for him because his reputation was to be "tarnished for life," as he said. And I thought, "haven't you done this to yourself?"
Suddenly, I wondered who thought of me as a cheater, as a person who bends the rules to his/her own advantage. I'm talking about people within my core community and family; I know there are people who think I'm rewriting the unwritten societal rules for myself and my gain. Are they waiting for me to be caught and punished? How many of them want the law to drop on me in order to validate their lifestyles and beliefs as right?
Perhaps I bend the rules a bit. However, I'd like to think I'm merely challenging the unwritten rules they adhere to. I've never found in writing that I must live under my parent's roof until married or attend the same church as them; I've never seen a posted notice that says I may not further my education or move away alone to a new city. Yet the general feeling I get is that I'm committing a wrong by doing so - I'm cheating the system that was so neatly arranged by them. Mostly, I'm just pissing them off because I'm not letting the societal traditions determine where my life goes; therefore, I'm cheating.
Anyway, afer I thought what I thought about Keith, I felt bad. I don't know him; I don't know what possessed a talented man to risk his chances of success by cheating. Perhaps it was fear of being insufficient. Perhaps it was fear of the unknown. Perhaps it was just shady. What I do know is that by others' standards I may also be a cheater, so I shouldn't be so quick to judge others' simply by their actions.