hey you,

i’ve been reading the news about the teenager whose life was cut short when she was literally swept away by the current in the canal. she was playing with her three friends after school, probably teasing one another, like all schoolkids do. just another normal day, homework in their bags… and their handphones.

what happened next, i imagine could happen to just about anyone. it could’ve happened even to me, knowing my wandering ways after school, taking a meandering route on the way home just to hang out with my buddies, and finding ourselves at times embroiled in ‘exciting’ adventures.

kids (coz yes, teens are still that, no matter what they insist) – their sense of judgment can be so, for lack of better words, bad, you know? you can warn them all about the dangers of the world, but there would always be SOMETHING you’d miss out on. like, “don’t climb down canals”, for example.

what could’ve gone through their minds at that point in time?

the water doesn’t look deep, so it’s safe.
there are four of us, so it’s safe.
the bag’s just there, it shouldn’t take more than a minute to retrieve it, so it’s safe.
nobody’s looking, so it’s safe.
we gotta get our handphones back or our parents will kill us! (ironically, another force of nature did.)

who knows what their collective thoughts were, whether they discussed the pros and cons or calculated the risk? or did they even stop to think about their actions and consequences at all?

it scares me to think that you, yes YOU, will one day be a teenager too, with the kind of cloudy judgment that accompanies most teenagers, further impaired by influences of your peers. what kinds of trouble will you get yourself into – or get away with? we could arm you with all the don’ts we can think of, but oh, the loopholes in life…

besides, all the don’ts we throw at you will only make them seem more challenging, and therefore irresistible, won’t it?

so, for all the bravery and impulsiveness you display now (ok ok, i KNOW, you’re barely two years old, hmph), i hope you’ll grow up understanding how precious your life is, and to always think think think before you embark on something, for lack of better words, stupid.

because, we can’t be there all the time to shout “NOOO! ANIQ! DON’T!”

(oh, and let’s not get into the whole other issue of fornicating on staircase landings with 13-year-old girls. yes, i’ve been reading The New Paper, i know what them ‘kids’ are up to.)

forever paranoid,
your (drama mama) mother.

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