Some Cliches are Necessary

Growing up, I have always heard certain things
over and over, you know the things that your parents,
teachers, and other elders tell you that are supposed
to teach you a lesson about life. Some of the most common
are:

Be yourself
Dont judge a book by its cover
Treat others the way you want to be treated

Well I really realize how important those cliches are
today, and Im so glad I know what they mean...So
I decided to go to the mall yesterday, and being
that I'm at home for summer vacation from college;
there are alot of people I saw that I had not seen in a
long time. Some I was excited to see and others.....ehh.

But what I noticed heavily was how some of the people
I knew that acted and dressed a certain way had completely
changed. Change is a beautiful thing but in one specific
case it wasn't.

I saw one of my really good friends from back in the day
named M(did u really think i was gonna put them out there
like that :) and we used to be so cool with each other so I saw
him with a few of his boys and I went to go say whasup and
he said: "whas good youngin"(dc slang when he knows he is
from NC) and then he gave me this hug that was kinda
inappropriate, as he did this his boys kinda whispered behind
him with a little giggle. He turned around and gave a little dap to
one of them after the hug.

I directed my attention to him and he kept giving me this
slimey look, i let it go and just kept trying to speak to him about
what he was doing with himself and no matter what I would say he
would ask me in this raspy voice "what you tryna do tonight though?"
and I kept saying "I dont know". I guess he got tired of that answer
so he decided to be a genius and reccommend me come to his house
and just "CHILL" I then just decided to end the conversation and
told him, "you know what I gotta go, ill see you later" so then he said
"aight imma see u lata, i know i am."

We both went our seperate ways and i stopped and turned
around to see him leave. I was so disgusted that i had to double
take to see if it really was the same M I used to know. He used to
be a gentleman, he spoke articulately and he used to walk with
dignity. Unfortunately he had become a follower, trying to be
someone else and I hated that. It just goes to show you that
highschool behavior doesn't end when you graduate. Some people
have to deal with what a wise man once told me is called "the 13th grade"

From what I saw, it seemed as if it was more work trying
to be like his friends than it was when M was just being
himself.

So, imma beat it into your head just one last time,
BE YOURSELF.......its much easier, and cooler that
way.

-EclecticFlavor