The asshole gene is what causes otherwise respectable young men and women to become egomaniacs. Phrases such as "You don't know me" and "Who do you think you are?" may be used.
The asshole gene was in effect Saturday night when a young unidentified man pulled the fire alarm in my apartment building at 2:45 am. Many pajama-wearing college students dragged themselves out of bed and onto the cold street while the firemen quickly checked the building and silenced the alarm. I took my time leaving the building to grab a sweatshirt and put on proper shoes. As I made my way out of the front door, a pizza man entered. Not your typical reaction to a fire alarm- but perhaps he is aware of this fire alarm prank phenomena as well.
The firemen looked around for maybe two minutes, while three others stood around the fuse box trying to silence the alarm. The pizza man came back down the stairs and the young man standing behind me yelled, "What a faggot!" In my opinion, the pizza man gave no indication of his sexual identity. He was wearing a work t-shirt and jeans and he carried one of those red pizza "lunch box" things that keep the food warm while in transit.
Not wanting to get into anything, I simply gave him a disapproving look. Then I listened to his female friend ream him out in front of the other sleepy people and the firemen. I can't lie- I was quite impressed. She asked him, "Why is he a faggot?" The young man replied oh-so-eloquently, "Because he is. Look at him. He's a faggot." The young woman continued in her attempt to relate the absurdity of his remark and had no luck. Unfortunately, the kid stood by his outburst and the "asshole" gene remains a threat.
Almost exactly twenty-four hours prior to this incident I encountered the remnants of another "asshole" gene outburst. I was walking home from a friend's house at 2:00 am when a friend and I came to a paper massacre in front of Symphony Hall. The entire stack of Stuff magazines was tossed about the sidewalk. I imagine that the act mimicked the way someone would toss rice in the air at a wedding- only with pages flapping in the air and no wedding party. Just booze- or at least I would hope that whoever thought throwing a collection of hard work and money out on the sidewalk was not in their right mind at the time. Unable to confront the litterer directly, we scooped up the kidnapped magazines and returned them to their plastic box.
Although, I have gotten over the middle-of-the-night fire drill (that I now understand was caused by irresponsible stoners), I am still quite bothered by the fact that some young men and women feel the need to lash out at others- strangers even. That boy had no grounds for calling the pizza man a faggot- a word I can barely stand writing. With young adults still reverting to such immature behavior- it is no wonder junior high kids think it is okay to carry out cyber-bullying and the like. I pray that those of us who recognize these wrongs can figure out a way to eliminate the unnecessary negativity in our world.
Although, I have gotten over the middle-of-the-night fire drill (that I now understand was caused by irresponsible stoners), I am still quite bothered by the fact that some young men and women feel the need to lash out at others- strangers even. That boy had no grounds for calling the pizza man a faggot- a word I can barely stand writing. With young adults still reverting to such immature behavior- it is no wonder junior high kids think it is okay to carry out cyber-bullying and the like. I pray that those of us who recognize these wrongs can figure out a way to eliminate the unnecessary negativity in our world.
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