I’ve often wondered what life would be like as a Disney movie with a song or musical number every five minutes, the good guys always coming out on top, and the villains getting crushed into oblivion. But when the cameras stop rolling, and reality hits, life is nothing like Disney movie. The heroes are pushed aside and the bad guys get exactly what they want with no consequences at all.
In a school as competitive as Arcadia High, people have this mentality that in order to get far in life, you must do whatever it takes to get ahead. If impressing a teacher means taking credit for other people’s work, then so be it. If getting an instant invite into the popular crowd means spreading nasty rumors about someone, consider it done. When I saw Cady take down Regina in Mean Girls so that she could rule the school’s social scene, I thought it was extreme. In actuality, this type of drama takes place on a daily basis. People spread rumors and try to damage other people’s reputation so that they’ll end up where there want to be. It’s all about the grades, reputation, and status. Soon that becomes the only focus, and people stop caring whether or not others get hurt in the process.
I’ve also seen people ride on other people’s coattails to get what they want, and the fact that these people never suffer from severe rug burn or have super static-y hair afterwards is quite puzzling and frustrating. When someone doesn’t pull their weight in group projects, for example, everyone else is so afraid for their grades that they need to pick up the slack. I know I get extremely frustrated when faced with this type of situation; I can even carry the weight of my own backpack, let alone carry their weight as well. I now understand why I am vertically challenged: the whole “carrying weight” situation has happened way too many times. The slackers, on the other hand, have it made: when the project gets a good grade, they take all of the credit, and when it crashes and burns, they’re able to say they had nothing to do with it (literally). Why don’t these people get what they really deserve? Is it too much to ask for good people to reach their goals and for bad people to have to buy Neosporin later on?
Perhaps these people can get away with pulling stunts like these because they know exactly what to say and do to confuse and convince others, making it so that the innocent (but confused) ones get the shorter end of the stick. These are the types of people know just what to say to wrap others around their pinky fingers. They use their cunning and W.O.M.M.I.D, or Weapons Of Mass Manipulation In Disguise, to force innocent bystanders into servitude. This is a serious issue. I don’t understand why when I try to report a W.O.M.M.I.D to teachers I get a psychiatrist and a long talk from my parents. What the “professionals” don’t know is that a (poison-laced) compliment, a (forced) smile, or (an explosion of) sweet talk can all be used to influence people. These scheming members of society posses a mind-control device (not yet patented!) that flies under the radar. Apparently the words “world domination” mean very little in the department of homeland security.
These people do a great job covering up their tracks and hiding their evil motives from the rest of the world; they don’t wear camouflage clothing and lurk in the bushes (most of the time) or anything like that, they just put on this act of being innocent and unaware of the damage they’re causing. They’re so well hidden that we don’t realize that our school is teeming with them. What’s ironic about all of this is that the amount work put into leading people on and tricking others into doing the dirty work is probably equal to, if not more than the work put into honestly achieving goals and earning rewards. The good, hardworking people who truly deserve respect and a reputation to match are being pushed aside and stepped all over. In fact, the terms “push over” and “doormat “ have been long out of use; in today’s society these people can be referred to as “trampolines,” for not only are they stepped all over, but they also are used to launch a “bad guy” closer towards their goals.
What do these villains get for treating people like inanimate objects? Good grades, a seat in the popular crowd, the last chocolate chip cookie, the list goes on and on. Isn’t this the time when karma is supposed to kick into gear and “reward” (punish) these people for their wrongdoings? Then again, maybe karma has already done its part: maybe in their next lives, these people will become trampolines (hopefully) so people can jump on them and use them for a change.
However, whether or not they’ll turn into trampolines will not become clear right away. So in the meantime, when faced with a W.O.M.M.I.D carrying-credit stealing-rumor spreading-disguised-conniving person, all you need to do to in order to keep them away from you is remind them that Neosporin is getting kind of pricey nowadays. Ooh, [rug] burn.
In a school as competitive as Arcadia High, people have this mentality that in order to get far in life, you must do whatever it takes to get ahead. If impressing a teacher means taking credit for other people’s work, then so be it. If getting an instant invite into the popular crowd means spreading nasty rumors about someone, consider it done. When I saw Cady take down Regina in Mean Girls so that she could rule the school’s social scene, I thought it was extreme. In actuality, this type of drama takes place on a daily basis. People spread rumors and try to damage other people’s reputation so that they’ll end up where there want to be. It’s all about the grades, reputation, and status. Soon that becomes the only focus, and people stop caring whether or not others get hurt in the process.
I’ve also seen people ride on other people’s coattails to get what they want, and the fact that these people never suffer from severe rug burn or have super static-y hair afterwards is quite puzzling and frustrating. When someone doesn’t pull their weight in group projects, for example, everyone else is so afraid for their grades that they need to pick up the slack. I know I get extremely frustrated when faced with this type of situation; I can even carry the weight of my own backpack, let alone carry their weight as well. I now understand why I am vertically challenged: the whole “carrying weight” situation has happened way too many times. The slackers, on the other hand, have it made: when the project gets a good grade, they take all of the credit, and when it crashes and burns, they’re able to say they had nothing to do with it (literally). Why don’t these people get what they really deserve? Is it too much to ask for good people to reach their goals and for bad people to have to buy Neosporin later on?
Perhaps these people can get away with pulling stunts like these because they know exactly what to say and do to confuse and convince others, making it so that the innocent (but confused) ones get the shorter end of the stick. These are the types of people know just what to say to wrap others around their pinky fingers. They use their cunning and W.O.M.M.I.D, or Weapons Of Mass Manipulation In Disguise, to force innocent bystanders into servitude. This is a serious issue. I don’t understand why when I try to report a W.O.M.M.I.D to teachers I get a psychiatrist and a long talk from my parents. What the “professionals” don’t know is that a (poison-laced) compliment, a (forced) smile, or (an explosion of) sweet talk can all be used to influence people. These scheming members of society posses a mind-control device (not yet patented!) that flies under the radar. Apparently the words “world domination” mean very little in the department of homeland security.
These people do a great job covering up their tracks and hiding their evil motives from the rest of the world; they don’t wear camouflage clothing and lurk in the bushes (most of the time) or anything like that, they just put on this act of being innocent and unaware of the damage they’re causing. They’re so well hidden that we don’t realize that our school is teeming with them. What’s ironic about all of this is that the amount work put into leading people on and tricking others into doing the dirty work is probably equal to, if not more than the work put into honestly achieving goals and earning rewards. The good, hardworking people who truly deserve respect and a reputation to match are being pushed aside and stepped all over. In fact, the terms “push over” and “doormat “ have been long out of use; in today’s society these people can be referred to as “trampolines,” for not only are they stepped all over, but they also are used to launch a “bad guy” closer towards their goals.
What do these villains get for treating people like inanimate objects? Good grades, a seat in the popular crowd, the last chocolate chip cookie, the list goes on and on. Isn’t this the time when karma is supposed to kick into gear and “reward” (punish) these people for their wrongdoings? Then again, maybe karma has already done its part: maybe in their next lives, these people will become trampolines (hopefully) so people can jump on them and use them for a change.
However, whether or not they’ll turn into trampolines will not become clear right away. So in the meantime, when faced with a W.O.M.M.I.D carrying-credit stealing-rumor spreading-disguised-conniving person, all you need to do to in order to keep them away from you is remind them that Neosporin is getting kind of pricey nowadays. Ooh, [rug] burn.