but I don't want to join the REAL WORLD...

I am almost 22 and I still live like a child.

I work, but my money has been used on the things I want, not to support myself. And I do not use it responsibly.

I block out reality incredibly effectively. I don't acknowledge it. If something happens to disturb my fantasy world of childlike irresponsibility, I ignore it. That is until the problem is so big it's not just my problem anymore.

Anyone who knew me in High School probably doesn't believe this. Because I used to be the picture of responsibility. And when it comes to certain things I still am.

I am punctual to a fault, almost always early for everything. I shoulder more than my share of responsibilities and worries at work.

But my scholarly life has deteriorated to nothing now... I can't stand school anymore. And my personal life, never eventful but once satisfying, is now completely nonexistent.

And I still don't want to grow up.

I Will Never Understand...

People's fear about gay marriage.

Let me be very clear- I am not gay, prop 8 will in no way effect my eligibility to get married, but I will never marry until everyone can.


It has always seemed like a very big non-issue to me. Marriage is about the love shared between two people and the life they are promising to build together. And I know that "commitment ceremonies" are supposed to be about the same thing, but why do we need a distinction?

I don't understand the worry over gay marriage being taught in schools.

So children will learn that everyone can realize the dream of walking down the aisle, no matter whom they love... is that bad? They will learn that no matter what they believe, or how they choose to express themselves, they are all equal under the law. They will learn that the things that make each of us different are not as important as what makes us the same... our humanity.

The only threat I can see, is the threat to churches and ministers and parents who use our differences to inspire fear and distrust in their children, thus creating another generation of Americans who will do the church's will without questioning.

That is the real threat- the fear that children will grow up with a different set of beliefs than those of their parents.

But I can already say with certain authority, that even if this measure is passed, kids will still learn about it. Even if you try to control what your kids learn, they will always discover what you tried to protect them from.

A good example is sex education, which some parents pull their kids out of in an effort to protect them. Kids may not be in the room when the lessons are taught by teachers (who will do their best to explain that pregnancy can only be 100% prevented by abstinence), but on the playground, the other children will fill them in on what they missed, and it will not be as accurate as their teacher taught it.

So what is it you're really teaching your children? That ignorance is preferable to truth? That information from any source is reliable? The lesson I see is that parents can't be trusted.

Why is that? Because, trust me, your child was excited to learn. But you pulled her out of class based on your own fears, and now she is eager to know what she missed. And when she finds out, she will resent your interference, because now she doesn't really understand what all the other kids are talking about.

We have warped enough children with fear and intolerance in America. It is time we teach them a truly valuable lesson. That information is a power that frees you to think and act for yourself, that our mutual humanity entitles all of us to equal treatment under law, and that discrimination will never be seen again.

Our continent was first colonized by those Europeans fleeing religious intolerance. They wished to worship how they pleased without the interference of government.

Last night I heard a Republican Party official say that the GOP needed to return to fundamental values, one of them being individual liberty and lack of interference from government. And I laughed at the irony. Because I can think of a few non-liberties and interferences they'd like to make law: banning abortion, banning gay marriage, banning non-abstinence sex education.

So I'll sum up my rant with this: I will never understand intolerance. I will never support injustice. I will never vote to strip anyone of liberty. And I will never get married above Victoria Falls or go on my Safari honeymoon while California's Constitution strips people of the right to marry.