The Ways People Teach You

Daily writing prompt

What relationships have a positive impact on you?

View all responses

I think if you let most, if not all, relationships teach you something about the world, then they’ll have some sort of positive impact, even if it’s minor.

As I typed that sentence, two people I would’ve preferred to never meet came to mind. The first one was a band director. Calling him an idiot feels too kind. When I met him, I had actually chosen not to be in the band (I got a feeling that I wouldn’t like it anymore, and I’ve never been prouder of my intuition on that one), but the school I went to required a leadership class, and they had no one to teach it besides the band director.

I knew the class would be a joke by the time he finished his introduction, and halfway through the year, I ended up yelling at him in class after he monologued about writing me up because my backpack was too heavy for me to silently set it on the floor…he never wrote me up. Anyway, having him as a teacher taught me that sometimes people get opportunities because there’s literally no one else. Unfortunately, knowing this before being released into the real world will give you more perspective on most people who will call themselves your managers/leaders.

I won’t discuss the second person because, frankly, I’ll probably always get confused by that situation; however, she taught me that some people don’t actually grow up; they just get older. Again, unfortunately, having this knowledge will prepare you for meeting most of the general public (if you’ve ever worked in customer service, you get it). 

I clearly feel pretty negatively about both people and my experiences with them. Still, I try to make sure that if there’s an opportunity for growth and understanding, I take it, and that’ll always be positive for me.  I’m certain there’s so much more in their life that has absolutely nothing to do with me that resulted in their behaviors. It’s safe to say that if I had to live their exact same life, then I may have become exactly who they did.

Perhaps, one day I’ll even be mature enough to wish them good things, but for now, I’m still younger than both of them were, and my only wish is to continue never seeing or speaking to them again.