Fester, Fester, Fester

I'm festering.* Someone made a comment the other day about how sheltered I am the other day, and it really irked me. This Someone is someone who goes to my church. When it's someone who was not raised in the conservative religious environment I was raised in, receiving the label "sheltered" does not bother me too much. I think the real reason this comment bothered me was because the person who made the comment doesn't know anything about my past and what I have or have not done, or what my opinion is on most subjects. That would involve hanging out with me and trying to get to know me. But that's a bitter subject for another day.

So is "sheltered" a good label? I know that some Mormons wear the label with pride, because what people are really referring to is the experiences we have not had by virtue of living our religion, such as not drinking, smoking, doing drugs, or having sex outside of a marital relationship. I can understand why to some people this makes us seem very sheltered and set apart from reality. I'm okay with that. There are some realities I don't want to live. I've seen the pain, drama, and health issues that accompany a lot of those things. But that doesn't mean I don't KNOW things. For example, as someone who has never been drunk, I can still observe the effects of alcohol on my friends, and some of the difficult situations they have found themselves in due to their inebriation and loss of inhibitions. No, I haven't experienced it firsthand, but you learn things from experiencing them secondhand, too. And I've read books and articles, and studied things, and watched movies about issues, and all that good stuff. So perhaps I know more than you think I do.

So, if I don't think a conversation you are trying to have with me is appropriate, it's not necessarily because I don't understand the topic. I am curious about a lot of things, and like to understand different perspectives and what life experiences make people the way they are. If you are going to start being crude, juvenile, or base in your conversation, I might be disgusted, and ask you to stop or leave the room. You may think having giggly conversations about mature topics makes you mature. I respectfully disagree.

Me? Cranky?


* see: French Kiss, with Meg Ryan-- Fester, fester, fester. Rot, rot, rot.