Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Walking & Talking

Have you ever known folks who talked the talk, but didn't walk the walk?

I've ranted, in the past, about students who just sit quietly in the classroom while the instructor mistreats us. While I was annoyed by their silence, at least that silence wasn't preceded by shit-talkin'.

Y'know what I mean:
"Oh, I wish he WOULD come up in here 15 minutes late, talking about how we gotta stay late! I'll walk right past him and slam the door on my way out!"

That didn't happen, so I didn't expect much one way or the other from these folks.

What gets me, though, are the folks who DO talk all that smack, but then never rise to the occasion. I can understanding choosing your battles, but I'm talkin' 'bout the folks who never make that choice, despite talkin' much shit.

Self-preservation is an instinct well worth possessing, but I'm not just interested in having a long professional life, academic life, or personal life. I want quality to go along with that quantity.

One way I measure the quality of my life is by how able I am to look at myself in the mirror and be proud of the man looking back at me.

If I spend more time talking about how we should stand tall but never get off my ass and onto my feet to join my co-workers, classmates, family, and friends in protest, that doesn't say much about my character* and it's just the kind of thing that'll transport a mo' fo' from my buddy list to my shit list.

What about you?



* - nothing good, anyway

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't stand talkers!! Always goin' on bout what they GON do, but never about what they've DONE.

Blah.

Anonymous said...

I used to be a rebel at work until I realized that no one was with me. People are into self preservation. Then I got burned at the stake like Joan of Ark and no one even bothered to throw water on the fire. Now I rebel online and on the weekends.