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| I SHOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING By Christy Simon, Campus Life magazine Writing class started out harmlessly enough that day. I was sitting there, scribbling notes as the teacher lectured. Nothing out of the ordinary there. But then it happened.The teacher introduced the topic of "appropriate word choices in everyday writing." As soon as he's mentioned the topic, a student raised his hand and with a big grin, asked. "May I recite the seven dirty words not to use?" I got the feeling he didn't want to do it for the sake of "education." I was sure the teacher would put a quick end to his "little joke." I was wrong. "Would anyone be offended?" the teacher asked casually. No hands shot up. No one said anything. So my classmate reeled off his list of seven dirty words. He not only did it once. He did it twice. The clock had never ticked more slowly than it did the twenty seconds it took to repeat the words. The teacher remained quiet. The class snickered and then cheered, like he's done something great. I turned away and stared at my notebook. My head began spinning, and a sick feeling crept into the pit of my stomach. "You should have said something," I chided myself. It wasn't though I'd never heard dirty words. I had -- in the locker room, in the hallway, in the cafeteria. And usually, there wasn't much I could do rather than ignore them and keep moving. But this was different. In this particular situation, I didn't have to hear those words. My teacher had given me the choice. I could have raised my hand and said, "Yes, I'd be offended." But I didn't. As bad as I felt, I learned something important from that class -- something I'll remember a lot longer than the "seven dirty words." By not standing up for what I believe in, I'm letting the world around me rip away a little piece of those things I value most. I'm letting the world take out a small part of my character. True, it's just a little piece. But the pieces begin to add up. Before long, there won't be much left. That experience made me more determined than ever to take a stand when I feel I must. No, it won't always be easy. It may even be embarrassing at times. But at last, I'll be able to look at myself in the mirror afterward and say with a smile, "You did what was right." ____________________________________ "Evil triumph when good men do nothing."------ |