Category: Thoughts and Opinions

Why Do We Care so Much About What Others Think About Us?

Posted on by SrilekhaC

Today, I overheard some seniors gossiping, just like any other average day at lunch. And it wasn’t just anyone they were gossiping about today. It was me.

To say I didn’t care at first, what that girl was saying about me, would be a lie. And that’s really hard to admit, because inside we all do really care about what others think about us. It’s a natural reflex to make sure that you have a good reputation and that everyone likes you. So at first, yes, I cared so much that I went in tears to one of my best friends and told her what happened. And that’s when I started really thinking, why do I care about this girl who is going to graduate in a couple months? Why do I care if she thinks something bad about me and makes fun of it to her friends(who I knew btw).

But before I get into that, I’ve got to say, parts of what she said was true. She described the series of events correctly. To give a little background, I’m in journalism and a yearbook designer asked me to interview someone for her spread. I went into the class, quietly asked the teacher if I could interview her(so I didn’t interrupt the other students as they were working on something on their laptops). I expected the teacher to call out her name, but he just stood there, so I asked for where she sat. He pointed towards her and just stared. And that, was the most awkward moment of this whole ordeal, at least, to me. The girl I needed to interview was listening to music, so when I called her name, she didn’t look up or respond. So, I tapped her shoulder, and finally she looked up. I asked her for an interview and she sharply replied ‘sure.’ I interviewed her, asked her a couple of questions, and she barely had anything to say. We were done within a minute, so I headed back to the press room.

And as all of this was happening, I didn’t realize that there was someone watching and critiquing every move I had made. I didn’t find anything wrong with what I did, and if you do, please tell me, because I’m still having trouble with why she hated how I asked for an interview with that other girl.

Anyways, during lunch, she and her senior friends were sitting in one corner while my friends and I were sitting on the opposite end of the petite room. And then, I heard it. My name. My friends and I sat there astonished as she recounted what had happened from her perspective, calling the whole ordeal, “awkward” and “weird.” They then noticed that I was actually in the room, and it went silent. Some giggles arose as the awkward silence consumed the room. I left a short five minutes later for my next class and was told one of the other seniors told her that she needed to apologize. According to my friend, she made up some lame excuse and said that she would text me.

I never got that text.

And I don’t think I really care about that anymore. Sure, it will be a little awkward the next time I see her, and a little uncomfortable the next time I see her friends, which will be the day after tomorrow because they are in my journalism class. How wonderful right? But truly, even though I cared so much within those first few hours, do I really care now? It was embarrassing, and probably ruined my reputation a little, one that I had put blood, sweat, and tears to earn, by the way. But within six months, I won’t be hearing her name ever again. (Well, maybe by her junior friends.)

There has to be some psychology beneath why we care so much about things like this. I honestly don’t have the answer right now, but I wish I did. I have seen so many instances in which people have slaved away over trying to make everyone like them. That used to be me, about a month ago. That’s when I realized, everyone has enemies. Everyone has people who don’t like them. That girl who was gossiping about me does. I do. The guy next door does. Everyone thinks and reacts to situations differently and we should respect that, rather than telling someone about the situation without knowing the true background and what really happened. Rather than crying or yelling at someone for not thinking the way you do.

So why do we care so much about what others think?

You tell me.

Arguments & Issues

Posted on by SrilekhaC

I’ve always wondered why, as humans, we can’t all get along. Is it the fear of compromise or is it the need to always get what we want? And sometimes, we fight over the silliest of things, perhaps a font size on a group project, that can leave us in tears because we just can’t understand why we argued in the first place. If arguments are so destructive to human beings, why do we engage in them in the first place?

Why do we start to care so much about something just as when someone else decides to change it, or move it, or touch it? All arguments cause, are more issues. And more issues lead to more arguments. What a great never-ending cycle of fighting. I’ve noticed, just as most people have, that siblings fight just a tad bit more than friends, or even best friends. We fight more with the people we’ve lived with for years, than the people we met a couple months ago. It’s weird like that. Why do we get so defensive against our dearest and closest, the people who share our blood?

Some arguments, however, can be quite big, over huge issues that we just can’t solve. And so we leave it there, a silent treatment, one less smile, one less call. Then we seem miles away, in the same haunted house. Empty. Alone.

This, I have never experienced, thank god. I’m so glad to be in good relations with my sister, with occasional fights of course. She does something I don’t like. I do something she doesn’t like. It falls apart and comes back together again. It’s a cycle I don’t enjoy, but if I’m not willing to adjust, and she’s not, then what’s the point.

Game on. Let’s go at it. That’s my pen, not yours. Stop changing the font.

The FRICKIN font. Ridiculous, right?

I’m ridiculous.

And a couple ‘sorry’s later, we’re back to being sane.

One argument. One thousand issues.