Everyone Else Does it....

After posting several poems, mostly to de with love, and unrequited love at that, I think it's time for a change of topic...


I am, by nature, a person with a great sense of justice. It irks me to see injustice being done and can't sit still when I see someone doing something 'wrong' right in front of me. Be it dumping trash on the corridor, smoking in public places, eating inside the train or other petty things.

That's one of the reasons why I sometimes get into arguments with some of my friends. I just can't keep my mouth shut when I know that they or someone close to them are doing something legally or ethically wrong. But then again, isn't it our duty as a person and as a friend to do just that?
This is also the reason why I seldom watch the news.


Back in the late 90's, I wrote a short story entitled 'The Face in the Mirror' for an essay writing contest. Of course it was technically disqualified for not being an essay, but I didn't care since I just felt writing and passing it back then. It dealt about our young generations' angst against the present government and their habit of blaming their elders for the mistakes that have happened in the past, without them realizing that they themselves are also guilty for the sins of omission -- not doing the right thing. (I got a special price from one of the judges though, she said she was touched by the story.)

When you see someone being bullied, do you stand up for that person?
If you saw a child take small change from his or her parent's purse, would you just shrug, smile and say 'what a clever child'.
If you witnessed a crime, would you simply turn away?

Sad to say though, with all the 'wrong' all around us, nothing we say or do seem to make a difference anymore. People simply view them as something everybody else does, and thus, consider them normal, saying 'everyone else is doing it anyway'.

Just because everyone else does something 'wrong' does it justify it as 'right'?

If you know that something is inappropriate, would you still do it just because everyone else does?