cultural differences
Something I admire about white people: their “family first” mentality. Let me explain.
I’m sitting here studying for finals with my friends, and one of them stands up to leave. He said he was going to his grandma’s birthday lunch. We have a final in 2 hours.
It made me think: Wow. You have a final in 2 hours and you’re going to take the time to go see family? I would be stressing so bad!
Then I realized: Fuck this final. Damn. I would so rather be hanging out with my family right now.
And then it made me think of all my other friends. With life being so busy and me being so involved, I rarely take a second to think and slow down. So many of my friends turn down school and extracurricular duties to spend time with their families, even if it’s for an hour. In my family, it’s understood that school and work come first, so if you have those obligations, you deal with them before family. This has caused me to miss countless birthdays and family suppers.
Maybe it’s the holidays and I’m in a mood, but I don’t think that should be the case. I’m going to start being like my white friends in the sense that I’m going to say “Fuck school. Fuck work. Fuck BSS. Fuck JDC. Family time.”
Family is important. Friends are important. In the large scale of things, you can say “Fuck school. Fuck work.” and spend time with these people for even 30 minutes a day. It’s going to be worth it in the end.
With that being said, I’m going to try and spend more time with my mom. I just realized I see her for only 30 minutes - an hour a day, some days not at all because I’m always at school. That just ain’t right. This is going to be one of my new goals going forward.
Accomplishing life goals is important, but sometimes slowing down and spending time with Mom is important, too.
