injustice - how do you react?
While sitting in the caf tonight eating an oversized hamburger, I heard a lot of noise coming from the table behind me. Glancing over at my friends on my table I saw a half eaten, deep fried, artificial potato scollap projectile into the lap of one girl on the end, obviously coming from our noisy neighbours. Turning around to see where the potatoey goodness came from, I listened out for the usual 'sorry' from the playful group. It didn't come. They just kept giggling.
'How about a sorry mate', I said to the closest guy on the table.
'How about a f**k off', was his gentle reply.
'Excuse me?' I said in a confused state. It was like an unexpected sforzando.
'How about a f**k off'.
No comment. Or maybe there was an awkward squeak from my mouth, or was that just my internal sense of logic screaming from confusion.
It was obviously very uncalled for. But not as bad as what followed.
I turned around to continue my dinner, a little shaken, as my friend asked the guy to watch his language. Obviously I looked like I could use a nice bit of yoghurt all over me, because from over my shoulder came a creamy, mango flavoured culture which rested on my shoulder and all over the person sitting across from me. In an unconsious effort to thank him for this kind gesture, I turn and looked at him questioningly.
'You just hit her', I said, relatively flabbergasted.
He looked me in the eye and stuck his finger up, obviously to indicate that he had injured it during the ordeal. And just to prove that his aiming wasn't as bad as first indicated, he happily emptied the rest of the yoghurt all over my neck and walked away.
----------------
At the piano I sat playing my latest creation.
'I would love to get a string quartet to play this, what do you you reckon?' I ask my friend who wanders into the room at that time, greeting me with a smile.
'Andy, you should put words to it and get the Octet to sing it'.
The idea resonated clear around my mind. It was be such a privalege to put words to an a capella composition of my own and to have my own singing group perform it. Imagine the rush of hearing it for the first time. I couldn't wait to tell the group director about it.
I chose liturgical text and busily got around to writing my first Requiem. This was a joy that I have experienced a few times since as I endeavoured to write a yet unfinished Requiem Mass. My plan was to have the Octet sing it and for me to learn about the way certain chords sound together so I could develop my skills in the process.
I was sure that my director would relish the idea of performing and potentially recording a composition by a member of the group. So I told him about it. He was more than encouraging, and showed great interest in the idea. So I printed up copies of the music and distributed them and awaited the time when he would start the group practising it. Time past, and the prospect of recording a CD came into the picture. I was sure that we could record my Requiem, and suggested it to our director and again he showed a great amount of interest.
As we neared the recording date, the weeks were moving quickly and we still hadn't even touched my requiem yet. I asked him about it. He said that we would still record it and look at it soon.
Now, I am not the kind of person to push my talents forward. It makes me sick to think that someone might think that I am self-seeking in things that I do like this. So I didn't push the director too hard to get us practising the song. He promised, so I figured that it would get done.
Finally the date the of recording period was upon us. The song has been sung by the group only on a few occasions and was definately NO WHERE near recording stage. As I recorded my solo piece, the rest of the group went away and worked with our director on my requiem. (I think my annoyance at this point was obvious). To make matters worse, when they returned, my director had completely changed the harmonic structure of one of my favourite sections, saying that 'he didn't like it'.
It goes without much guessing that the song didn't make it onto the CD. Through the broken promises, and lack of respect for a work written by one of the members specifically for the members it basically left one bitter and dis-heartened composer.
--------
Why do I tell you these things? I just want you to think about how you would react in these situations. Would you react in violent anger? Would you say nothing? Should the people who behave so injustly be taught a lesson? Would the lesson be taught with violence or yelling?
How do you think I reacted?
'How about a sorry mate', I said to the closest guy on the table.
'How about a f**k off', was his gentle reply.
'Excuse me?' I said in a confused state. It was like an unexpected sforzando.
'How about a f**k off'.
No comment. Or maybe there was an awkward squeak from my mouth, or was that just my internal sense of logic screaming from confusion.
It was obviously very uncalled for. But not as bad as what followed.
I turned around to continue my dinner, a little shaken, as my friend asked the guy to watch his language. Obviously I looked like I could use a nice bit of yoghurt all over me, because from over my shoulder came a creamy, mango flavoured culture which rested on my shoulder and all over the person sitting across from me. In an unconsious effort to thank him for this kind gesture, I turn and looked at him questioningly.
'You just hit her', I said, relatively flabbergasted.
He looked me in the eye and stuck his finger up, obviously to indicate that he had injured it during the ordeal. And just to prove that his aiming wasn't as bad as first indicated, he happily emptied the rest of the yoghurt all over my neck and walked away.
----------------
At the piano I sat playing my latest creation.
'I would love to get a string quartet to play this, what do you you reckon?' I ask my friend who wanders into the room at that time, greeting me with a smile.
'Andy, you should put words to it and get the Octet to sing it'.
The idea resonated clear around my mind. It was be such a privalege to put words to an a capella composition of my own and to have my own singing group perform it. Imagine the rush of hearing it for the first time. I couldn't wait to tell the group director about it.
I chose liturgical text and busily got around to writing my first Requiem. This was a joy that I have experienced a few times since as I endeavoured to write a yet unfinished Requiem Mass. My plan was to have the Octet sing it and for me to learn about the way certain chords sound together so I could develop my skills in the process.
I was sure that my director would relish the idea of performing and potentially recording a composition by a member of the group. So I told him about it. He was more than encouraging, and showed great interest in the idea. So I printed up copies of the music and distributed them and awaited the time when he would start the group practising it. Time past, and the prospect of recording a CD came into the picture. I was sure that we could record my Requiem, and suggested it to our director and again he showed a great amount of interest.
As we neared the recording date, the weeks were moving quickly and we still hadn't even touched my requiem yet. I asked him about it. He said that we would still record it and look at it soon.
Now, I am not the kind of person to push my talents forward. It makes me sick to think that someone might think that I am self-seeking in things that I do like this. So I didn't push the director too hard to get us practising the song. He promised, so I figured that it would get done.
Finally the date the of recording period was upon us. The song has been sung by the group only on a few occasions and was definately NO WHERE near recording stage. As I recorded my solo piece, the rest of the group went away and worked with our director on my requiem. (I think my annoyance at this point was obvious). To make matters worse, when they returned, my director had completely changed the harmonic structure of one of my favourite sections, saying that 'he didn't like it'.
It goes without much guessing that the song didn't make it onto the CD. Through the broken promises, and lack of respect for a work written by one of the members specifically for the members it basically left one bitter and dis-heartened composer.
--------
Why do I tell you these things? I just want you to think about how you would react in these situations. Would you react in violent anger? Would you say nothing? Should the people who behave so injustly be taught a lesson? Would the lesson be taught with violence or yelling?
How do you think I reacted?
posted by amadeusthecreated at 12:23 AM
1 Comments:
When it comes to creative stuff, you always have to rely on yourself to get it endorsed. Whether he thinks its good enough or not, there will always be other people who think it is good enough. So my advice would be forget about him and explore other avenues.
With the yogurt...well yeah, i already told you! Normal ammo for bullies includes the following: maccas pickles, cake, milkshakes, etc. - basically junk food. What is the world coming to with health-conscious bullies?
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