The Lie The World Sold Me

by Unknown?

They told me that if I followed the rules they set, the Norms they provided, that I would be accepted, that I would be acceptable. People would greet me by my name at my place of work or study, buy me a drink at the club, discuss the rugby on the weekends.

They told me that if I did as they pleased I could shake hands with people I barely knew and have empty conversations about the weather. They told me all this and more could be mine, if I asked no questions and suppressed my individual thoughts

They told me how to brush my hair, what to brush it with and how it should ultimately look. They told me what to wear to go with my hair and to make sure I wore it right. They told me to hide any distinguishing features that might mark me out in a crowd and to make sure that I check in with them from time to time to make sure I was "cool" enough.

They told me what attractive features in a woman were and that I should be tanned and muscular. They told me that the gym was the place to go to get like this, and that I should keep working out no matter how wretched I felt, they said the gain outweighed the pain.

They told me what beauty was, and that anorexia and bulimia were excuses. They told me that a rugby ball makes you friends, and that picking on others was funny. They said the more you did it the better you felt about yourself. They told me old was 25.

They told me to smoke, they said that side effects where nonsense. They told me what to drink, in what quantities and how I should hold it. They told me that the use of recreational drugs constituted a good night out. They said overdoses only happened to others. They told me promiscuity was right - they said love was in the eyes.

The told me what music to listen to. They said it should be friendly and non-confrontational. They told me to shout, "fuck the system" while buying Diesel jeans. They told me where to be seen by other in order to impress them.

They told me when to dance, why to sit, where to cry, what to sing how to laugh. They said timing was important.

They told me how many times to chew my food. They told me preservatives were good for me and that the 9 vitamins and iron on my coco pos were all I needed for a balanced healthy diet. They told me not to worry about the force-fed chickens or neglected cows. They said that McDonalds meat was healthy and the destruction of the rainforest for farms was nothing serious. They said extinction was merely natural selection and that "survival of the fittest" was a good maxim to live by. They said that Green peace and the World Wildlife Fund was merely a bunch of crazy hippy revolutionaries trying to slow down man's progress.

They said not to worry about: oil slicks; desertification; drought; soil erosion; starvation or deforestation. They told me city air would serve my purposes. They told me it was a packaged deal take it or leave it, but leave it at your own peril.

"No thanks", I said "not me". "Fine" they said, "you will not enjoy the fundamental wonders we have so generously offered you instead, my friend, you will be an outcast , you will become the butt of every joke, people will not engage in empty conversation with you. See what your foolishness has brought, learn your lesson and come back quick. We know you will won't you?"