"Ohh, why the f*ck is everyone doing this goddamn Day of Silence thing?"
-Some kid in the hallway at CTEC.
This was the first thing I heard anyone say regarding the Day of Silence that morning. At least that means recognition. However, this guy wasn't directing the comment directly at me; instead, he mumbled it under his breath as I walked by, loud enough for me to hear. (It's interesting to realize that when you're being silent, you hear a LOT more than you might otherwise.) But not only was this a rude comment to make, he seemed to have been talking to his girlfriend at the time, and he interrupted their conversation just to make that stupid remark. That's disrespectful to both me AND her. It was difficult not to say something to him, but I kept my mouth shut. xD
Most of my CTEC classmates were pretty understanding of my silence, which was nice; a few of them messed with me a little, but they didn't mean any harm by it, so it wasn't a big deal. The one who gave me the most trouble was actually a flamboyantly gay kid, who I have this weirdly strained friendship with. He didn't see the point of the Day of Silence, and kept bothering me to explain it to him somehow. D: He's... really not the sharpest corndog in the box, though.
As of 11:35, the heckling had been minimal, and I was happy about that. I did see something that ticked me off personally, however. I saw someone I used to be friends with last year, but don't really talk to anymore because his attitude took a gradual, but noticeable, turn for the worse (cracking racist and sexist jokes constantly, showing ominous signs of homophobia and becoming a skinhead, etc.); I was about to wave hello to him in the hallway when I spotted a small and sloppily-ripped-out circle of paper taped to his shirt. Drawn on it was a rainbow inside a circle with a line drawn through it. I was very put off by this, and in the back of my mind I thought "Oh yeah... that's why I stopped talking to him."
My oceanography teacher showed consideration for my silence, and I appreciated that. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from him, but he treated it as a non-issue, which I think was perfectly fine. There were a lot of people in lunch bragging about how many people they'd gotten to break their silence; that annoyed me. It wasn't even that they meant any particular harm, but they treated the protest as a joke, or a challenge, and were just displaying some really immature behaviour. I hope the people they harrassed managed to keep their dignity. D:
By the end of the day, I HAD ended up breaking my silence once, which disappointed me. xDD It was an honest mistake, though; someone came up to me in the locker room during my gym period and, without noticing the sign around my neck, asked me whether we had gym inside or out. Of course, I immediately opened my big yap and started saying "Well, I'm pretty sure we have gym outside, because we were supposed to have it from the time we--" That's about where she interrupted me and said "Um... did I just break your silence?" I was very 'ARGH,' since that was a big fat failget on my part, but she apologized and promised not to tell anyone. xDD Which is pointless, because I just told the entire Innanets... not that more than two or three people at the most will read this. o3o;;
The "Breaking the Silence" ceremony after school was pretty fun; we all screamed and shouted after a silent countdown from ten to zero, and those of us who'd kept journals got up to share our experiences. After that, there were snacks. Mmmm... snacks. All in all, I thought it was pretty WIN GET.
-Some kid in the hallway at CTEC.
This was the first thing I heard anyone say regarding the Day of Silence that morning. At least that means recognition. However, this guy wasn't directing the comment directly at me; instead, he mumbled it under his breath as I walked by, loud enough for me to hear. (It's interesting to realize that when you're being silent, you hear a LOT more than you might otherwise.) But not only was this a rude comment to make, he seemed to have been talking to his girlfriend at the time, and he interrupted their conversation just to make that stupid remark. That's disrespectful to both me AND her. It was difficult not to say something to him, but I kept my mouth shut. xD
Most of my CTEC classmates were pretty understanding of my silence, which was nice; a few of them messed with me a little, but they didn't mean any harm by it, so it wasn't a big deal. The one who gave me the most trouble was actually a flamboyantly gay kid, who I have this weirdly strained friendship with. He didn't see the point of the Day of Silence, and kept bothering me to explain it to him somehow. D: He's... really not the sharpest corndog in the box, though.
As of 11:35, the heckling had been minimal, and I was happy about that. I did see something that ticked me off personally, however. I saw someone I used to be friends with last year, but don't really talk to anymore because his attitude took a gradual, but noticeable, turn for the worse (cracking racist and sexist jokes constantly, showing ominous signs of homophobia and becoming a skinhead, etc.); I was about to wave hello to him in the hallway when I spotted a small and sloppily-ripped-out circle of paper taped to his shirt. Drawn on it was a rainbow inside a circle with a line drawn through it. I was very put off by this, and in the back of my mind I thought "Oh yeah... that's why I stopped talking to him."
My oceanography teacher showed consideration for my silence, and I appreciated that. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from him, but he treated it as a non-issue, which I think was perfectly fine. There were a lot of people in lunch bragging about how many people they'd gotten to break their silence; that annoyed me. It wasn't even that they meant any particular harm, but they treated the protest as a joke, or a challenge, and were just displaying some really immature behaviour. I hope the people they harrassed managed to keep their dignity. D:
By the end of the day, I HAD ended up breaking my silence once, which disappointed me. xDD It was an honest mistake, though; someone came up to me in the locker room during my gym period and, without noticing the sign around my neck, asked me whether we had gym inside or out. Of course, I immediately opened my big yap and started saying "Well, I'm pretty sure we have gym outside, because we were supposed to have it from the time we--" That's about where she interrupted me and said "Um... did I just break your silence?" I was very 'ARGH,' since that was a big fat failget on my part, but she apologized and promised not to tell anyone. xDD Which is pointless, because I just told the entire Innanets... not that more than two or three people at the most will read this. o3o;;
The "Breaking the Silence" ceremony after school was pretty fun; we all screamed and shouted after a silent countdown from ten to zero, and those of us who'd kept journals got up to share our experiences. After that, there were snacks. Mmmm... snacks. All in all, I thought it was pretty WIN GET.
My experience with the Day of Silence was a pretty positive one; there were other people participating in our school, however, who had been seriously harassed and even physically assaulted. I'm disappointed that this was even a problem... but I'm so proud of everyone who did participate. We did an awesome job, and there's no immodesty in me saying that. D:
And ummm... I also wrote up a little mini-speech thing about the Day of Silence, the least failget version of which I will share with the Innanets here. c:
"Participating in the Day of Silence has made me realize that this is more than simply a demonstration; today is a day not only of protest, but of support. Without it, any struggle becomes ten times harder, and to show our support for those who must endure abuse, discrimination, and other injustices is to offer them our strength and encouragement-- which words alone may be unable to provide. Whenever a group is forced into silence, they are not only prevented from defending themselves, but also from helping and reaching out to one another and the rest of the world.
Today, we have taken that silence and turned it from oppression into solidarity."
Today, we have taken that silence and turned it from oppression into solidarity."
