I’ve seen it happen too many times. Within the supposed hierarchy of high school, self-appointed superiors belittle people. Just today I saw three selfish people place their own desires over another person by cutting them in line. As if that person had not been patiently yet quietly waiting their turn to check out of the lunch line. And it got me thinking.

No, I didn’t jump to clichés about empathy and putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, because apparently those lessons never got through. Rather, I over-analyzed that act, like I normally do. Being that it was Oct. 3, I thought of “Mean Girls”, specifically the scene where the conflicting high school castes lash out at one another like animals. There is a lot of truth in that, in the Social Darwinist survival of the fittest.

What I fail to understand is where the difference is between the predator and the prey, the ones who cut and the ones who can only stand by. Surely it isn’t clothing, stature, looks or anything superficial such as this that makes anyone think they are superior. But I’m afraid that in a rigid ecosystem, those at the top, the cutters, are only their because of their egos.

In my opinion, the other, the patient and quiet victim, should be celebrated. Not placed above or below anyone, but celebrated nonetheless. Their solitude or quietness don’t make them ‘weird’ or inferior, just too afraid to question the status quo.

However, I imagine an ideal world where the quiet and introspective student is respected enough as a human to keep their rightful place in a line. It’s not too much to ask.