Chrysalis

Chapter 3 - Blue Jeans

Chapter 3- Blue Jeans

Mr. Lechno began the class by posing a question. "Do parents always know best?"

It split the class 30/70, with most people saying yes. I was in the thirty percent who thought differently.

"Okay, lets begin with the side that thinks that parents do know what's best," Mr. Lechno started. "Who want's to share first?"

The kiss-ass opened. "Parents are like, older and more experienced than us, so they know how the world works, and like, they love you so they obviously wouldn't make decisions for you that would hurt you. And sometimes they like, make mistakes and stuff but its' nothing they can't fix. Like I bet you would have made an even worse mistake than your parents would have. So like, I know my parents know better than me and I trust their decisions and I don't feel like I have to go behind their back because I just trust that they're right. And, yeah."

"Mm, okay, thank you for sharing. Yes, our parents are much more experienced obviously because they are older, and I know as a parent myself I always try to make good decisions for my kids. Sometimes we may be a bit overbearing but it's because we love you, so. Anyone else?"

"I agree with Andrea," said another girl. So that was her name... "I think that our parents know best because they have a lot more logic than we do. Teenagers and kids are impulsive and want to do what's fun but our parents think about what's going to happen in the long run and in the future."

"Thank you, Tia. Parents do tend to think about long term rather than the now," he giggled. "Kids seem to live in that, 'You Only Live Once' mentality which can sometimes be good, but oftentimes you run into trouble."

"Why is it adults seem to think that every decision that teenagers make is something impulsive? There's so many long term decisions we make that mess up our lives, too," I interjected.

"Virvanna, okay. Let's hear a bit from the other side. Do you think parents know best?"

"No, I really don't. Our parents grew up in a time that was much slower developing than the time we live in now. Think about it, we all remember a time when DVD players didn't even exist, and now we can stream unlimited movies from a phone. Our parents used to call their friends from a phone connected to the wall and now I could call a stranger in India using the internet. And even more, our parents don't even try to understand this world we live in. All they do is say 'stay away from social media'. Most of our parents could probably only name Facebook as one form of social media, and have no clue how to even accept a friend request." I got a few laughs of agreement from my last statement.

"And how about our parents protecting us, understanding what's best for us, not all parents are like that! Some are the blatantly shitty parents, and some are the low-key shitty parents. Like those parents who buy you everything you want to make up for the fact that they forget your birthday each year. Or how about those parents who are super supportive of everything great you do, but have these microaggressive attitudes towards things that always leaves you with a sense of 'can I ever come out to my parents?'". Or how about parents that care more about their reputation than they do your own wellbeing?

"Well sorry your parents didn't buy you the right shade of Mercedes, but you shouldn't love your parents. They love you!" Gregory Clarkson stepped into the conversation.

Asshole, making assumptions already. "I never said I didn't love my parents. Our relationship doesn't go without it's fights, but I've forgiven that. Don't you fight with your parents?"

"Parent. It's just me and my mom, my dad died..." he trailed off.

The class grew quiet, and Mr. Lechno made one of those awkwardly-sorry face. "Well then, don't you fight with your mom?"