Society, You’re a Crazy Breed.
Sitting on a bench, I see people driving by. The bright colors of their flashy cars catch my eye. I hear people honking their horns in frustration. I notice people dropping trash onto perfectly paved sidewalks. As I sit in the shadow of a maple tree, I’m left with a sense of disappointment. Seeing all this can’t help but make me think about our society, which led me to believe in one thing. I believe in leaving society behind.
So many people are caught up in the fast flowing current of society. Scared to jump ashore and be different they continue to be carried away. People have it drilled into their heads that to be accepted you have to follow a strict plan. You have to act a certain way to fit in. Every day I watch people as they walk by. Many of them are sporting the newest contour. More then a handful of these people are shouting into cell phones as they quickly walk by. One of these people, a girl with a designer bag, walks by wearing pants that read princess on the back. As she walks down the sidewalk the sun’s brilliant rays illuminate the fall leaves. The girl however, notices none of this as she walks by talking on her phone. All these people look to focused and dead set on where they are going. Not one of them stops or even slightly pause to look at the world around them. They are all being washed away into the fast flowing current.
I once lived my life like a typical nineteen year old. I liked buying new clothes, and chatting on the cell phone. I was identical to the people I now watch. I didn’t always stop and look at the world around me. My mind was traveling down a one way highway. I was in the current being pushed down river. I thought the more possessions I had made
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me more worthy as a person. The more I fit in with the norms the more accepted I would be into society. I became a person that society would approve of. Without hesitation I enrolled in college after graduation. Thinking back now, I really had no urge to become a college student. I went because that’s what people do after high school. Society has classically conditioned us to think this way.
It wasn’t until I listened to one song that this belief was solidified. The song was called Society by Eddie Vedder. The song illustrates perfectly how people are to wrapped up in this crazy world. The songs expresses exactly what I thought and what people needed to hear. Part of the song goes “Society, you’re a crazy breed, I hope you’re not lonely without me.” I think this is something we should all say to ourselves. Forget about society and what‘s right and wrong. Be the person that you want to be. When starting your busy day; stop. Pause in your tracks look at the world around you. Breathe the air and soak in your surroundings. Dare yourself to jump out of the river. Let today be the day where society no longer controls everything you do. This is what I believe.