Wilderness Tips: Listen, Listen, Listen

The listen, listen, listen fever hits my college. when i entered one of the senior class yesterday, i was greeted by 'listen, listen, listen' followed by the usual greeting. i answered 'animal also have problem you know, not just us'. they laughed. i hope that didn't make me an ass. (to those clueless about this recent outburst of listen, listen, listen-in vain attempt to demand respect, go search in YouTube).

(pic by amazon.com)

No, actually its not a vain attempt at demanding respect. its a major slip of tongue, forgotten if happened among friends, but blown out of proportion when done in public, or in this case in the jungle of smartphones, cameras and technological gadgets. 

Being a teacher, i truly understand the need for respect from students. sometimes, i too, demanded it from the wildlings~(willful, stubborn kids) (you need to be a teacher to understand the desperation).  but we all know, respect should be earned to make it meaningful. It takes effort, a lot of patience, consistency and discipline. All to make a patchy, fragile bridge from one heart to another. and if we're consistent enough, the bridge may toughen over time. yes, respect is a very powerful heart matter. that's why many people get so emotional over the listen, listen, listen fiasco. 

when you demand people to listen to you, your words better have weight.

and i did listen when i read Margaret Atwood's Wilderness Tips, a collection of 10 short stories. all of those stories are richly layered and very disturbing. my favourite pick would be Weight (no, its not about dieting). my mind works overtime over this para: there's something final about saying you were married once. its like saying you were dead once. its shuts them up ~ or in some cases sent them berserk. 

How can i not respect this woman when she put what i have in mind eloquently: i no longer think that anything can happen. i no longer want to think that way. Happen is what you wait for, not what you do; and anything is a large category. i am unlikely to get murdered by this man, for instance; i am unlikely to get married to him either. right now, i don't even know whether I'll go so far as dinner on Wednesday. it occurs to me that i don't really have to, not if i don't want to. some options at least remain open.

if you have not read any of Atwood's yet. maybe, you should start with this 10 short stories. if you'll listen closely, you might find yourself in one of the stories. great tips on facing the wilderness.