Friday, November 25, 2011

Back Somebody Up

When I was a kid in high school we often stood in groups of five or six in the hallways and talked. What did we talk about? Everything. Life, the weather...mostly we joked.

So much of the conversation was about looking cool, trying not to say something stupid and trying to get people to nod and laugh. One thing that was sure to work was making fun of one of your teachers. I observed a group principle. It's easier to complain than it is to say something good about someone. Say something bad about someone and it's easy to get kudos's from your friends.

But once and a while someone stands up for someone when it's not popular to do so. "Hey, I like Mrs. Bernstein, she actually tries to help when your stuck on a math problem." If you're looking for popularity in the moment...NOT COOL!

But you know what? If you want to be a classy person, who others trust and respect. If you want to be a person if integrity who can live with yourself and have a good conscience when your alone and away from the crowd. Try standing up for people, try backing somebody up even when it's not popular. 

Hold your tongue when you are tempted to slam others. And when others decide that putting people down is good conversation...shut em down, speak up, do the unpopular awesome thing...back somebody up. When that happens, though it might be unpopular...it's VERY, VERY COOL.