So something funny happened today that made me think of my childhood. Aquafina water is on sale at No Frills, and since it's my favourite brand of water I told my parents that we have to go there and buy all that we can! The littlest one came with us and he was sulking the whole time! I can still hear him being grumpy downstairs about it. I think it's because he found it embarrassing that we're cheating the 2 cases/family limitation. He said it's cheating and he hates it. So this brought about a few thoughts.
1) I remember when I was little, I hated going shopping with my parents and seeing them cheat the system like that. I found it embarrassing and always wondered why Chinese people have to be so cheap. I started to feel ashamed of Chinese people and I came pretty close to turning my back on my own culture. I'm so glad I didn't, I find it's a pretty sad thing to lose your own culture and language. The second brother is a pretty good example of this and I do pity him sometimes, although he's quite happy so I guess it doesn't really matter.
2) I understand now why I used to feel that way and it's the same with my brother. He's young and he doesn't understand the value of money and how hard people have to work for it. He's innocent and still believe in a just world where people shouldn't cheat. I'd like him to stay innocent as long as he can, I'm glad his sense of justice is so strong.
3) I think university has changed me a lot on the inside. The way I think, the way I view the world now. It's little things like these that make me feel that leaving home and schooling in a different city is a good experience. The content learned at school could be learned just as well at any other school if you have enough interest and effort is put in. Sure there's the reputation and blah blah blah, but that's all marketing, it's just a brand. But I find that living in Waterloo taught me a lot of life lessons that I'll remember for the rest of my life. Living in any other city other than Toronto would've taught me these things I believe, but Toronto will always be the city I'll come running back to because this is where my family and friends are.
4 comments:
awww that was beautiful sui poh.. and yes we cheat the system too..
anne
it's trial and error then we learn from it. I know for sure my perspective from way back in elementary school is not the same as now. You'll learn the system and it's all about the survival of the fittest right? There's no guide to it and it never said we cant cheat =)
mmmm... i think the fact that we are calling this "cheating" means that we're doing something we shouldn't be, thus breaking the guide. Honestly, i think it's more about relativity. It sounds like "it's ok, because everyone else does it". Though, in this sense cheating is not viewed as "wrong" it's not right either. It all boggles down to your values. =)
that's my two cents.
I think the little one is just experiencing some dissonance, that's all. He'll get over it with time, or when he aligns himself to it.
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