John Chicoine published a note.
I overheard a conversation between two people discussing a young girl that had colored her hair bright pink. This girl with the bright pink hair was working at the mall as a cashier and when asked by a patron “Why” she colored her hair bright pink, she quickly replied, “I did it so you would remember me”. She then followed her response with, “when you go home tonight, you probably won’t remember anybody else you saw here today, but you’ll remember me! I color my hair like this because I’m not one of these cookie cutter girls that just came off the assembly line just like all the rest of the other girls.”
At first, you might think, “That’s pretty cool! This kid’s really got it going on.” But let’s examine this event just a little bit closer, in light of this thought: It’s not important that someone remembers you. What’s really important is what someone remembers you for.
Standing out from the crowd, being different, being ones own self, and all of these similarly admirable ideals are unquestionably worthy goals. But! Unfortunately, so many boys and girls these days are under the ridiculous belief that such superficial attempts to be a unique and valuable individual as the color of ones hair, the cut of ones clothes, the group of friends they associate with, the movies they watch, the music they listen to, and the number of Facebook friends they have, is of real consequence!
Never would they consider such old fashioned values like hard work, exemplary character, Godly living, civility, humility, self confidence, and distinguishing themselves by dedicating themselves to a worthy cause, or excelling an any particular discipline, as a means of separating themselves from the herd.
Maybe if that pink haired girl had tried to distinguish herself by being an extraordinarily pleasant, or helpful, or efficient, or competent cashier. Maybe if she was a little more concerned about representing the store in a positive light and reflecting the store-owner’s values a little more. Maybe if she spent a bit more time making sure her employer was more profitable, or had more repeat customers because they had such a positive shopping experience because of this girls effort! Maybe then, our society might not have to settle for and be so impressed by her superficial, meaningless, self-centered attempt to be remembered.
jdc