When you've just got to stand up and say I no longer want my flag to hang on the walls of this classroom.
Let me explain, because this is one thing I don't want to be glib and blase about. It left a very huge impact on me and since this is my blog, I'm allowed to think aloud.
School has this rather nice rule where each section has people displaying their different flags on the walls of the classroom. The flags are "hung up" one night and then through lunch next day, different people make presentations about their countries. Ever been in a situation where travel agents were making a pitch for Mauritius versus Langkawi? Well, that's how I felt sitting through those presentations. Every moment my mind would go, dude I've got to go to Bulgaria, then oh my god, Brazil. Ok, maybe, Brazil, Bulgaria and squeeze in Colombia? OK let's just kick it and do a South America trip... oh but wait, then what happens to Greece or HongKong or Taiwan?
Which brings us to Taiwan. One of my best friends in the section is Taiwanese. And she wasn't allowed to have her flag up on the wall. This will make a long story short.
So, my friend made her presentation on Taiwan, she pasted a Taiwanese flag on her name card in class and life ambled on. What I guess we missed is how bad someone could potentially feel when you walked in to class and all your classmates were displaying their flags except you. Whether it was just or otherwise is for someone else to debate. We got back from a break and right when we were leaving class a French guy in our class stood up.
He said he felt it was unfair that we talk about leadership and we were all complicitly allowing this to happen, he said he was the only French guy in class and he wanted to take his flag down because he'd rather two people feel isolated than one. I think that action deserved serious respect. I mean anyone could have done it, but they didn't, what does that make the rest of us? Fence sitters? Or, just people who look the other way? When do you decide when you want to get involved?
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That French guy deserves a standing ovation/visible goose pimples/toast of a drink.
ReplyDeleteYou have a true leader out there in your class. No kidding.