I once really offended a tudunged Malay chick by telling her exactly what I think of the family unit and the - as I put it - great delusion that family is the center of the universe.
Perhaps this happened more times than I suspect, but in my youth, I often complained about that. People's reaction, of course.
I asked some wise women and tried to reason out why they reacted so strongly.
"Your action," said one, "was like taking a hammer to the center of their universe, and you simply shattered their great illusion of the world. No one likes their world destroyed."
Hm.
This is when I discovered how powerful I am. That with a mere thought, I could destroy other people's worlds or images of their world.
In comparison, my world was already destroyed when I discovered that people don't act like they do in cartoons.
The fact that I have an independent mind, independent thoughts and think of things that may run counter to some people's understanding of things, seems to be a threat.
I am, by default, just by existing, a fly in the ointment. Someone who will not see things their way. I do not share their values. My values are my own.
I do not believe that setting myself up as a victim holds me in any high regard. I don't hold being held in high regard, in high regard.
I used to complain about it, until I decided not to care. There are racists who believe themselves liberal. There are selfish bastards who believe themselves benevolent and charitable. There are untrustworthy people who believe that they are honourable.
And I, I believed I was harmless, until I found out that merely by thinking it, I can destroy people.
Perhaps, instead of a superhero, my true vocation lies in being a supervillain.
But nah.
I don't actually care that much. I just want to do stories. Everything and everyone else, what they think and what they feel, are in the end, irrelevant.
