I am really...not responsive...to peer pressure.
I do not wear a mask in public. I won't make fun of (most of) those who do, but I won't do it. I will not risk damage to my own health to make someone else "feel safe." Someone else's emotional state is not my responsibility.
I have not changed my FB profile--and will not--in honor of the protests. I will not "black out" anything. Not my FB profile, not my cheese-product (saw a "special edition" Kraft singles slices in passing, not sure if it was real or satire--it's hard to tell, anymore, with how utterly ridiculous the world has gotten), not anything.
I don't share the posts saying "share if you love Jesus," or the ones saying "no one will share this, since I'm (crippled/ugly/starved/what-the-fuck-ever)" or the ones saying "FB keeps removing this...let's keep it going too far for them to get 'em all."
I don't mindlessly support cops. Some cops are awesome, but too many either stay silent, or join in the bullying and thuggery that the bad ones engage in. I will not mindlessly sport the "blue line." Not unless and until the thugs are all ejected from the police forces everywhere. And prosecuted for the thuggery that would have seen anyone else jailed.
(That said...I also don't support the people attacking cops just for the uniform.)
I never smoked because of peer pressure (I did smoke, but that wasn't why). Same with alcohol. And pot. I don't not smoke because of peer pressure, either--I quit smoking because my mom wouldn't stay out of my cigarettes, and she had COPD from working in smoke- and dust-filled environments long enough to ruin her lungs. I don't not smoke pot because of peer pressure--it's inconvenient. And I refuse to allow my rights to be infringed by the federal government because of a damn plant. One that could very well be very useful to me, since I don't react well to narcotics.
Don't ask me why, but peer pressure very often pushes me in the opposite direction that those applying the pressure really want me to go. Possibly because I refuse to be manipulated, and I don't like doing or supporting anything without thinking it through.
And maybe because most peer pressure relies on emotional appeals, which make me suspicious of the motives making them.
Maybe it's partly because I hate bandwagons.
Or people in general.
I don't know why I react like I do to peer pressure, and I don't like not knowing that about myself. This is going to take some serious reflection.
1 hour ago
'Peer' pressure is an interesting phenomenon... It more or less 'requires' you to assume that your (insert group or whatever here) expects you to comply with their 'pressure' (insert application method here)...
ReplyDeleteIf you are weak or fear being ostracized, you'll go along to get along. If you're a strong person, confident in yourself and your beliefs, peer pressure doesn't work because you don't care what others think.
I'm far more likely to do the opposite of what the people applying pressure want me to do...
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