A Lesson In Human Nature
If I am ever again approached by a second-grade girl with a lazy eye and a mischievous smile, I will definitely think twice before excitedly agreeing to take a peek at her backpack cat.
I have been telling this story a lot lately because my kids think I am an entertaining storyteller; In grade school, some girls thought I was dumb and were always telling everyone, as girls do of course. One day one of these girls told me that they had brought their kitten to school in their backpack and wanted to show me. Now, whether these girls liked me or not was irrelevant to me at that moment. The fact is I like kittens and hell yes I wanted to see a kitten.
The Girl unzipped her back and quickly flashed the fuzziest little “thing”. I was pretty thrilled, but totally not satisfied. Like any sensible 2nd grader, I asked to see the kitten again and if I could pet it. Because, well, kittens are made for petting. She opened her bag a bit and allowed me the briefest of a glance before quickly shutting her bag. She then proceeded to punch the shit out of her bag and the cat repeatedly. All the while laughing.
I, of course, began screaming for the teacher “She’s got a kitten and she’s punching it!” I was crying.
The teacher frantically stopped the girls’ punches and opened her backpack, pulling out a fur scarf.
I don’t remember if anyone got in actual trouble, likely not. The teacher did reprimand the girl for making me upset. (Imagine that.) And to my recollection class went on as normal, with the usual of the girls calling me dumb for believing they had a cat, and also a tattle tale for causing a scene.
The girls were pissed at me for telling on them for believing a very well-thought-out and presented LIE and then for being upset when, part of that deception they pulled over on me, was to harm an animal. Little psychos.
I like to think those girls ended up in prison. I don’t even remember their names, but a girl can hope.
Anyhow, my kids think this story is hilarious because I still am passionately upset about these little girls pretending to punch a kitten for shock value and to prove that I was dumb.
Was there a tipping point where violence against another was necessary in their mind to show power? Did I expect them to violently “punch a kitten”? That day, no, I
certainly did-fucking-not. But, every day since then I am less shocked about the willingness of humanity to do atrocious shit because I’ve seen humanity do atrocious shit. And that makes it LESS & LESS acceptable. If I am ever approached by a second-grade girl with a lazy eye and a mischievous smile, I will definitely think twice before excitedly agreeing to take a peek at her backpack cat.
I’ve seen someone punch what I believed was a cat. I reacted accordingly and shut that shit down, discovering later that I saved a scarf. And rightly so. I’ve seen other people do bad things and because of that original trauma, my reaction is not the same - inasmuch that I don’t completely lose it and cry, but I still have the moral fortitude to shut that shit down. We all need to remember that being accustomed to atrocity is no reason to be comfortable with it. The status quo of dumb-fuckery humanity is comfortable with is pretty shocking, and yet we are desensitized to that shock. Even if it doesn’t hurt, we should probably check the wiring.