10/13/07
A girl and the guy she has a crush on are sitting in her room, looking around, both obviously trying to spark a conversation. Finally, he asks her to play some of her favorite music, so she quickly opens her laptop. She starts playing a song, laughing a little, just in case he doesn’t like it. She notices the funny expression he put on his face, and she starts making fun of the tune she chose, as if she didn’t like it herself.
What forces this girl make fun of something that interests her? Why do humans in general act this way? Why are they forced to act in a certain way because it’s the cool thing to do? Or, in an even more common setting, why do they tend to act more kindly than they want to around those people they’d rather push into a bottomless pit?
Humans tend to act fake, especially in certain scenarios. These situations can be anything from showing off to simply smiling when one is in the worst mood. This isn’t necessarily a bad characteristic of human nature, but it certainly can get annoying if used excessively. Some situations are easily acceptable, but others are obnoxious. “There’s a time and a place for being pretentious” (Showpony).
A young fellow struts up to a group of girls. After listening to their conversation about the bands they like for a few moments, he adds that he is in a band. Coincidentally, the band he’s in is very similar to the artists the girls had previously named off. He makes it known he plays lead guitar and is planning on being rich and famous sometime before he gets out of college.
This kind of bragging is the evil side of our artificial human ways. “Pretentiousness can be bad for your health” (Showpony). Obviously, flat out lying isn’t the way to go if one wants someone on his or her good side. Luckily, there is a more respectable approach to acting fake, which many humans have already mastered.
Twenty seconds left in the second half of the game. She’s keeping one eye on the clock, one eye on the game. After the buzzer goes off, she lines up with the rest of her team. Flashing a smile and shaking the opposing keeper’s hand, she tells her she had a good game. Once she gets back to her side of the field, she mutters to one of her teammates, “I can’t stand that girl”.
This girl would evidently rather trip the other goalkeeper instead of shaking her hand, so why didn’t she choose that path? Part of that answer is self-control, and another part is most likely because she doesn’t want to get in trouble or appear rude. One point is awarded to being phony.
Humans are taught at an early age to be polite. This is just another form of acting fake, because, really, what four-year-old doesn’t want to throw their food instead of using a napkin to wipe it off their face? People shouldn’t act upon every impulse, so their phoniness is often a good characteristic to have. They should be proud to be fake, unless, of course, they’re putting down their own music or lying about being a rock star. Fortunately, those that find these particular fake beings aggravating are generally the same people taught to be polite. Otherwise, there may be a lot of criminals testifying in court with the excuse, “I couldn’t stand all the lies!”
Works Cited
Showpony. "Being Pretentious." BBC. 22 Mar. 2001. 13 Oct. 2007 http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A513604.
