The Mall

I generally try to avoid shopping malls if at all possible. Last week though, I wanted to see a movie after work and the nearest theater to my office is The AMC Clearview Palace 12, which is located in Clearview Mall.



Tres unfortunate.



I told myself that I could probably deal with whatever might be thrown at me in the five minutes it would take to get my tickets, and the rest of the time would be spent in the embracing darkness of the theater auditorium.



While in line at the box office I noticed a group of five guys ranging in age from about 12 to 16 in front of me. They all looked like typical teenaged guys, just as I looked about a decade ago. They were rowdy and loud, hoping to draw as much attention to themselves and their undeniable coolness. As a group they seemed to want to be noticed and recognized as a bunch of really Bad Mother F***ers but upon closer inspection it was easy to see that each of them individually had a sense of insecurity and uncertainty about being in their own skin. All of this is very old and we all know the feeling. Being a teenager is difficult as hell and I know from personal experience that being a teenaged guy is really tough (not that being a teen girl isn’t, but I can’t speak on that topic now can I?)



One of the kids in particular caught my attention. He looked to be about 14 or so and was the smallest of the group by a long shot. Looking at him just pissed me off. He had a swagger to his walk and an air of bravado that no 14 year old needs or deserves. His baseball hat was slightly and (obviously) painstakingly tilted to the side just so.



He looked like an asshole just waiting to grow up.



I asked myself whether people are just born as complete assholes, or is it an environmental thing that is grown into. Was this kid destined to be a complete jerk for the rest of his life because his genetic make-up made it so?



I thought back to my middle-school years trying to remember some of the guys who I thought were assholes back then. Then I thought about those same guys today and realized that most of them did grow up to be real jerks. Nothing about them changed. Granted, some are real good guys now, but there are plenty of dudes that I went to school with who were little turds back then and are just really tall turds now.



The good news is that not all of them are, so that must prove that it isn’t genetic, but more environmental, and can be overcome. Let us hope that we can all teach our children to be nice to each other at a young age because I still remember all the jerks that I knew in school throughout the years and I still think of them as jerks even if they aren’t. They may be good guys today but I’m not there to see it and have no way of knowing, so in my mind they will always be a-holes.



Strangely, I find that this piece can be appropriately concluded with a quote from Shakespeare:



“The evil that men do live after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.”



Remember that!