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Rant & Rave
"HATE" is a word I hear often. I use it often myself toward people, and I probably don't mean it. Careless talk hurts
feelings in hateful way"Love" is also a word used freely, but most people are aware of it's potency, so they know when not to use the word.
People are less aware of the harm of using "hate." It is a strong word that hurts people. I never use the word in a strong way, so I guess that's why I use it so freely. After all that I've been through because of someone else's careless words, I want more people to see how unnecessary that word is.
When I've used the word, I didn't really feel hate. But the word comes so easily, I just say it and realize the consequences later.
My lack of discrimination has gotten back to me after all these years. I have so many people telling me, "Oh yeah, we can't invite this person to our party because you hate him," and it hurts me when they say things like that.
It's not true. I know I brought this judgment upon myself, but then I want to run away from it, and when people confront me I deny it. It throws back in my face the vibe I present to other people.
EVEN after all these occurrences, I still can't stop the feelings I have toward some people, although I now try very hard not to be so judgmental toward those that I barely know.
Sometimes, my friend and I go around saying how we hate this person and that person. Any sane person would think we are idiots, hating people for no reason, for "fun" and entertainment.
That is just ridiculous and I don't know why we do it. It's not that we want to feel better than the other person; it's just that if they do one thing, like look at us funny or talk to us in a mean way -- it could be the smallest, stupidest thing -- we go around saying we hate them.
Other friends have told us that it isn't nice for us to bash people we don't know. They probably had no intention of slighting us by walking past us or looking at us in a certain way. We just imagined their motives to be more dismissive.
I hope more people will begin to realize that we have enough hatred in this world, and adding to it won't affect any change for the better.
Even if people feel a dislike toward another person for a slight or their actions, if they cannot learn to forgive and forget, I hope they could at least be careful with the words they use, remembering that everyone has feelings.
Ghazal Yousseti is a senior at Kaiser High School. Rant & Rave is a Tuesday Star-Bulletin feature
allowing those 12 to 22 to serve up fresh perspectives.
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