I Should Really Stop Observing People...

...but it's far too fun.

If you've been following my blog since the beginning, you know that I'm changing my major to Sociology and from day one of this school year, I knew that this was the major for me. I spend my time thinking, and not just about what I'm going to eat or wear tomorrow. No, I dig deeper. I'd like to take some credit and say that, based off my surroundings, I observe and form opinions about people, society, and the world around me. And let me just say, currently, I do not like what I see, which normally makes me kinda depressed after I spend a whole day thinking, aka, today.

(A word of caution: This isn't really a happy post. These are my thoughts based off the people I see around me.)

The major thing I've observed is how people interact. For me, I was raised to ask people how they are and, here's the catch, I really care. There has never been a person that I have inquired how they are and not cared. Sure, I might not have remembered to this day how they felt on the 10 of August but I'm not one to go through the motions. So I just don't understand how others can't care about something like that. If I walk through the door, gone all day, why don't I get asked how my day was but someone else does? Why does someone come home and their name gets shouted like the Hallelujah Chorus but I walk in and no one notices? Maybe I'm no one special or maybe everyone just automatically thinks I'm alright when I walk through the door with a smile on my face. Maybe I was the only one who grew up with a mother who was anxiously waiting to hear about my day the second I came home. Whatever the reason is, I don't understand how society has lost the ability to care about the little things. Since when did we get so busy to not care about the people around us, even if they aren't our BFF or our significant other??? 

Another thing I have observed is people take things for granted all the time. I noticed this a bit last year, when we had one driver in my group of friends. It was natural just to assume she would drive all the time and I don't remember how often I thanked her. I realize that I need to take the time to thank people for the little things, even if it's their job or their place to do so. For instance, we have a chore chart in our apartment. Even though I might not agree with it, it works well but how often do I take the time to thank my roommate for cleaning the bathroom, even though it was her week to do so and expected of her? Not very often, that's definitely something I could work on. But what astounds me is how little people care when they go out of their way to do something nice for them that they didn't have to do. Or what's worse--when person A decides to do an act of service for person B and then person B complains the whole time/tells person A they are doing it wrong. I see this ALL THE TIME. I don't get it. If a boy wants to be nice and make food for a girl, why does that girl sit around and complain or say stuff like "that's not how I would do it." Really? Have some COMMON SENSE. That boy doesn't have to invite you over and make you some food. He didn't have to be nice to you. But seeing as he decided to, you better sit there with your mouth shut and, if you must speak, say something like "What can I do to help?" rather than "you're doing it wrong."
Society, please, I beg of you. USE YOUR BRAINS. Don't you still have one? I'm starting to think you don't.

My last rant of the evening would go to those who are LDS. Living in Provo, majority of the people I interact with here are LDS. If our main mission of the Church is to share the gospel with the world, we are doing a POOR JOB within our apartments, classes, and interactions with each other. In order to share something as precious as the gospel with others, we need to first change ourselves. If you can't follow the examples of Christ and the apostles, how can you expect others to want to hear of the gospel? If we can't follow the simple commandment of "love thy neighbor as thyself" or "love thy fellow church member even if they're a bit different or not perfect," how can we be true followers of Christ? How can we call ourselves Christian if we can't even love our fellow ward members? How can we expect to be true followers of Christ when we get frustrated and can't do a simple act of service for someone else? How can we go to church for 3 hours and come home and forget about how to be a follower of Christ? Those questions are the ones that truly haunt me at night.


To sum up, the real reason behind these random thoughts of mine? Use your brain. We're smart. We're all living our life and trying to figure things out for ourselves. But if one stays with his narrow mind and doesn't open up to new opportunities, how will one grow? How can one learn if he stays with his own opinions and don't consider someone's? Kindness and consideration go a long way, even if you don't agree with what's being said. You can be polite and disagree. Just go back to preschool and think about how you'd want to be treated. I guarantee you don't want to be kicked the curb. I guarantee you want to  be loved, respected and considered.