Public Crying

I saw two people crying at school.
One a special-ed boy.
Another a overachieving nerd.

The special boy started crying over something of little significance, I don't really understand what he was so upset about.

The other boy was known to be an extremely nerdy person. It was in class that he was talking to a few of his friends, and I happened to eavesdrop out of boredom. This particular person has five AP classes, or so I believe. And as a sophomore, or in any year, this is truly too much, as one of his friends put it (the one who seemed to be counseling him the most), he's on "AP steroids". He still has decent grades though. I don't know how he manages, my grades are bordering 'C's, and they will be come 'C's if I'm not careful. Anyhow, I blanked over eventually, but then another one of his friend rushed past me, to the front of the room to the tissue box. And not surprisingly, I heard a stifled cry next. I turned to see him with his hands to his eyes, hunched over the table. He was a rather cheerful person in class and it was a painful sight to see him cry. I paid more attention after this. Apparently his parents aren't even in the country, they're on the other side of the world, in fact. He seemed to have an attention problem where he just wants his parents to be home and just there. His friend made a good point about how he should tell him parents how he felt. During this time of our life, it's rather important to have your parents around since sophomore year is where most people begin to decide what road they're going to take for the future. In addition, as an Asian child, his parents have high expectations of him. His parents want him to be a doctor, or something of the sort, but apparently, even the way he's doing now doesn't make his parents proud. The depressing conversation continued, and his friend said, ultimately, "Unfortunately, your parents aren't going to be around one day. And you probably already graduated from Yale and became a doctor by that time. But when the day comes when your parents are dead, you're going to look back on your life and wonder just how much of it you were really happy. No matter what your parents think, they're going to grow old and live the rest of their life, then you'll have to live the rest of yours. In the end, it's your life, don't waste it for someone else." I blanked from the conversation once more and the background sounds came into focus. Laughing people, chattering voices, the room buzzed except for that sad corner of the room. Stupefied, I was amazed me how everyone kept moving according to their own lives, with little regard of the poor crying boy and his story of unbearable stress and unhappiness. The slow and grave time suddenly transitioned to the fast and chaotic world again. The world where people's feelings rarely touch, and understanding falls short. A cruel world where souls cry at nothing everyday.

And then the bell rang.

"Those in pain talk too much, those who truly suffer don't talk enough." --JJS