ordinary people

Doesn't it make your blood boil when you hear how some Gen-Y yobbos think it's a given to make mindless and thoughtless assumptions based purely on what they see, or perceive to see? I refer to an article I read in this weekend's The Courier Mail "QWeekend" magazine in Brisbane, whom I once again accredit with being the source behind my current run of trusty worthwhile stories. Seriously, I'm beginning to love this publication! Some of the content within its pages never fails to provoke some sort of a response from me! 

The article focuses on an ordinary woman with extraordinary skills, who just happens to be a bit larger than some of us on the size front - and cleverer than most where it counts. The woman I refer to is Catherine Dunstan, a 33 year old public servant from Brisbane. Her story touches the spot I believe most of us women can relate to - weight! It also highlights the ignorance and insensitivity of some. In Catherine's case she writes about how a carload of young guys - strangers, it turns out - drove past her a couple of weeks ago, honked the horn and called her "fatty" and "stupid cow" for no apparent reason! How dare they? How dare they presume to know this person? How dare they proclaim her to be less than intelligent? One could forgive Catherine for letting off steam and retaliating, or taking it personally and holding a grudge (as any one of us mere mortals, I daresay, would be tempted to do) - but that isn't Catherine's style; it's not what she stands for; and it's certainly not who she is. Catherine is so much bigger than these ordinary people, and their extraordinary badmouthing personas. She's highly educated (holds a Bachelor of Business specializing in accounting and tax law) and is extremely forgiving, to say the least. Catherine admits to going through several reactionary phases in the past - crying, or fighting back - but is more likely these days not to give people that power over her anymore. As she says, things that happen in her life used to own her but they don't anymore. She's finally in control of her life.

So it begs the question, what motivates some people? Why do they feel the need to jump all over people and assume to know them? Is it just human nature, or the peer culture found in today's society where the "power-in-numbers" type mentality exists and is allowed to thrive? Whatever drives them, or eats away at them, leads me to question how these kids' mindset evolved and fashioned them into the unkind people they are today. Hurting strangers for no apparent reason other than to feed their own amusement, doesn't get lower than this. Bravo Catherine for rising above it!