lost respect | Teen Ink

lost respect

October 2, 2009
By xjordano0x SILVER, Stamford, Connecticut
xjordano0x SILVER, Stamford, Connecticut
7 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
"I write for the same reason that I breathe; because without it, I would die."


I believe I’ve made this clear to a lot of people I know. Honestly, I have no respect for those who drink, smoke, or do drugs. There are girls who are my friends on Facebook and I see their pictures being the most commented on. What are the pictures of? Beer pong, chugging down one beer of the whole case, looking out of their mind wasted, or just a interesting looking picture of the smoke caught in the air from that person who smoked.

I know parents have said to just say ‘no because it makes you better than them who didn’t’, and although most of us don’t listen to mom and dad on this case, I do have to agree with the parents. I see somebody smoking even the smallest of the cigarettes, and it’s almost as if my respect level for them just dropped to zero.

Tonight, I was coming back from a movie with my boyfriend as we ran into a couple of friends. Their eyes were red and they just asked us to join them to smoke a joint. I was silent, looking at these people who I’ve known for a while…not believing these people, my friends, really smoked.

Getting your hands on alcohol or drugs isn’t hard nowadays. We have drug dealers and fake IDs. I’ve been asked to smoke a few times, and my answer is simple: “No, I don’t do that stuff.”

I’m not sure how the asker feels when I say this, but hopefully, they’ll respect me for it. People who I know who have smoked specifically weed told me to never try it. It’s a bad habit and hard to get out of. I tell them I was never planning to try, and they always reply: “that’s good.”

I wouldn’t know what it’s like. But, I’m guessing once you begin, it’s like an addiction after the second or third hit. Maybe it’s the same with alcohol. I’ve heard rumors that girls in my school fill their water bottles with Vodka. This is ridiculous; what are they going to do, get drunk in school and get expelled?

I have respect for everybody until they give me a reason to think otherwise. I will never become an addict to smoking or drinking. I will stay sober and be proud of myself.


The author's comments:
people who I know, people in my school, people around me.

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This article has 32 comments.


bbreeden said...
on Nov. 15 2010 at 11:56 am
I agree with you that when people drink, smoke, or do drugs that it is disgusting...but just because they do so does not mean that you're better than them. Noone is better than anyone else.

on Oct. 2 2010 at 10:08 pm
Opinionated GOLD, Brantford, Other
15 articles 0 photos 48 comments

Favorite Quote:
~Change what you can and accept what you cannot change.~<br /> ~If you love someone, let them free. If they come back, it&#039;s meant to be.~ <br /> ~Cease refusing to believe that in what you have created.~

I don't think your one to talk or to give your opignion on these facts. I am saying with all due respect but you have no experience in any of these three categories. As many people have said, you don't know the reason that people have started any of these things and I bet with what most of them go throw, they deserve more respect than anything a clean person has ever deserved respect for. Now I understand that those who throw their lives away for these things and for no other motive but to make money or to make themselves feel better even tho they have nothing to not feel good about, but other than that, I just don't think you should be posting your opignion on things you know nothing about.

on Oct. 2 2010 at 7:28 pm
i have friends and family that do all three. that doesnt make them any less of a person. they still are human. they do the things because they can. i dont do them but i dont look at the people any different. i still love and care about the people that do it and they do it responsibly. they are very bright people also. these people have not had hard lives they tried it but saying that you are addicted after like the 3rd hit is kinda wrong and i know this not cuz i do it but cuz i know people who do and although they do it they dont do it all the time and with out it they are not crazy. they dont fein for it. i dont see how someone doing something with their life is affecting you in any way. you dont have to be around it nor do you have to be friends with these people. i have been asked and also when i said no they did not judge me. they all know that i dont like those things and so they dont make me. the respect me just like i respect them. they are still people like i mentioned before and they also still are loved by many people.

on Oct. 2 2010 at 8:32 am
SnowFlakeStephyy SILVER, Bloomfield, New Jersey
6 articles 0 photos 6 comments
thats good that you feel this way and it is the same in my school its so stupid to even think about bing drugs an other stuff into schoolo are you rely that bad and only 16

on Apr. 12 2010 at 11:07 am
Good for you :) I am totaly the same way allthough none of my friends smoke or do any of that terrible stuff. At least i hope they dont. I hope anybody reading this that do take drugs or any of that stuff are aware that smoking is revoliting and seriously not good for your health.

on Apr. 9 2010 at 7:22 pm
SantyClaws BRONZE, Louisville, Kentucky
1 article 0 photos 13 comments

Alrigh aha, that was totally not short and simple.

 

And I do apologize if I come across harsh. Really, truly. :(


on Apr. 9 2010 at 7:18 pm
SantyClaws BRONZE, Louisville, Kentucky
1 article 0 photos 13 comments
Let's make this short and simple. I have zero respect for your opinion or this article. You have pretty grammar and an ability to write, but you lack understanding or experience, or perhaps that's just the type of person you are. Good for you for staying clean. Good for you for being able to say no. But not everyone is the same, not everyone has that ability. Does that make them less of a person? You don't even know why they started to begin with, what situation they were in. Well, my friend has a bad home life if you catch my drift, he cut and smoked. It made him feel better. It makes him feel better. Can you honestly look me in the eye (alright, metaphorically) and tell me that he's a horrible person for doing so? Both my parents smoke. They started when they were hardly teens. Now it's impossible to quit, no matter how many 'persuasive letters' I can write, no matter how much I beg and plea. It's just not going to happen. But they are both INTELLIGENT, WORTHY people, and the idea that someone could lose all respect for such an idiotic reason disgusts me. My brother drank. It was irresponsible, yeah. But he's still my role model, I still see him as the most brilliant person in my life. You don't know him. And I hope you never have the chance at meeting him. Because you know what? I don't think those so called 'friends' you ran into were really friends at all, and not cos they offered you a joint, but because instead of helping them, you were thinking only of what a horrible thing it was to be friends with someone who smoked! O, gasp! Someday you'll wake up and see that smoking or drinking isn't what makes a person's character. And I hope you'll see that soon. Because in telling us this, you're also showing what lack of character you have inside.

on Mar. 18 2010 at 8:15 am
army_alyssa BRONZE, Wyoming, Michigan
2 articles 7 photos 11 comments

Favorite Quote:
You&#039;ve never felt pain, until you&#039;ve felt love.

1) you have NO idea what people these days have been through and how they deal with it. I'm not looking for sympathy but, i've had a pretty effed up life. I drank and smoked to get level headed and relaxed. It was a way to deal with things. My life got better and i dropped my habit. But some peoples' lives are just all around hard, and it doesnt get better. So they do their thing to feel better. You obviously dont see both sides. You have to understand both sides in order to really have an opinion that counts. Becuase just hearing this pisses me off, since you don't see and you don't understand. maybe you don't want to, but that just makes you less of a person.

beccabex24 said...
on Feb. 2 2010 at 6:58 pm
beccabex24, Searingtown, New York
0 articles 0 photos 16 comments

Favorite Quote:
Be who you are and say who you feel, because those who mind dont matter, and those who matter dont mind.

you dont know why theese people started drinking in the first place. you are not in their shoes, it is very good you have the power inside yourself and the courage to say no, but for people who dont, your respect for them should just disitigreat, help them dont judge them

on Dec. 20 2009 at 6:57 pm
That1LostGirl SILVER, St.george, Kansas
6 articles 0 photos 12 comments

Favorite Quote:
if hate is such a powerful word then why do we say love like its nuthing?...

this is totally and completely awsum!! and i will use this to show my frnds!!

BBGirl_101 said...
on Oct. 22 2009 at 9:12 pm
Yeah great comment. :) I agree.

on Oct. 16 2009 at 2:38 pm
dragonfan SILVER, Arcidia, Indiana
9 articles 1 photo 213 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Death truly makes an artist&quot;

This is really good. I know alot of people who smoke to and it makes me sad that they do.