Daniel Akill-Attieh's Blog | 314: PEER PRESSURE – Previously posted or published: # 56 December 2007

Dear Readers and Fellow-Apes; 2008 was a Murky and Hapless Year! Let us hope that 2009 does not turn out to be even More Murky and Hapless!

I intentionally did not wish you a Merry Christmas, because Christmas is another story for another Posting at another time; and I do not wish you a Happy New Year, since I believe that ONLY FOOLS ARE, OR CAN BE, HAPPY ALL YEAR ROUND. I do, however, wish all of you A GOOD YEAR! With a little Good in one's life, one can be a little happy, which is all one can ask for in one's short sweet dream one calls a life-time. BY GOD AND SATAN!

A Jack of many trades and master of all; I am honest to the core and I hate lies, deceits, pretensions, hypocrisy, treachery, betrayal, and stoic compliance; and I despise – and actually pity – Human-Apes who follow-the-herd-or-pack

I expose and reveal the lies, deceits, pretensions, hypocrisy, treachery, betrayal, and blind, deaf, and stoic compliance, and Human-Apes who follow-the-herd-or-pack; I tell or write the truth; and I say what I mean and mean what I say

I fear nothing; least of all, death

If I must fear anything at all in life, then let me fear what I think and know of myself; because, in the end, one’s knowledge and opinion of oneself is what counts most. All the world may think and believe one is such and such, but one knows one is such and such. Also, I like to look in the mirror and like what I see and know about me.

I invite comments, remarks, criticisms, and even insults – so long as they are straight to the point, in order for me to correct or adjust myself accordingly. What I do not welcome and won’t accept or tolerate is HORSE-SHIT!

Dear readers and felow-Apes; with every page, every report or article, every paragraph, every sentence, every word, and every letter; I thank you for taking the trouble and the time to read My Not-So-Humble Comments.

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314: PEER PRESSURE – Previously posted or published: # 56 December 2007

08 July, 2008

PEER PRESSURE – Previously posted or published: # 56 December 2007

PEER PRESSURE LEADS TO SHEER PLEASURE? Don’t count on it, and don’t take it to the bank.

Peers are persons of approximately one’s own age and station or status in life. Your peers are those of your own age and/or standing in the community or society in which you live, work, and/or study, and with whom you frequently, if not always, associate. In other words, the people you normally, or usually, do things with; for example: go to parties/dances; go on picnics or trips; go camping; go to school, or to clubs; play games; converse, argue, or discuss mutual matters that concern you, or attend social gatherings (church, ceremonies, or celebrations) etc., and peer pressure is the sort of pressure these people exert on you.

Often, they’re not your actual friends or acquaintances, but friends, acquaintances, family members, relatives, or associates of your friends: My friend’s friend is my friend, my friend’s enemy is my enemy, my enemy’s enemy is my friend, and my enemy’s friend is my enemy. It may seem confusing, but it is really very simple. If you look at it well.

Some, or most, if not all, drink and/or smoke; a few, if any, don’t. Some, or most, if not all, use drugs; a few, if any, don’t. Some, or most, if not all, have boy-friends/girl-friends; a few, if any, don’t. Some, or most, if not all, indulge or participate in certain activities that may not be morally or socially right – I hope I do not have to spell them out – a few, if any, don’t; and so on, and so forth. Those who do, begin to suggest or offer to the others things they do that the others don’t; and sooner than later they begin to lure, needle, goad, coax, or pester the others; trying to get them, to do it, too.

“Light a cigarette, or take a drag from mine. Get a glass of whisky, Etc, or take a sip from mine. Do this or that, or try this or that.” Then they begin to ask questions, and make remarks like: “Who is your boy-friend or girl-friend? You mean you haven’t got one? Good God! And at your age! You don’t know what you’re missing, or how to live! You’re a coward! That’s it! What’s wrong with doing or having this or that or these or those? Who do you think you are? You think you are better than us, don’t you? We’re not good enough for you, are we? Look. Either be like us, or leave us alone. You’re either with us, or against us. Join us, or get lost!” No boy or girl likes to be or feel alone. Everyone likes to be part of, and feel they belong to, a team, or a group, or a gang. It’s the herd instinct – don’t forget that Humans are descended from APES!

And if it so transpires that she has a boyfriend with whom she is in love – and they’re both serious and intend to get married when the time and the conditions are right – he tells her: “If you truly love me, you will let me.” And even if he is decent enough – God forbid – not to say it, his peers peer at him, at first, as if he were a walking-talking dinosaur; then later, they begin to needle, goad, coax, and pester him with questions and remarks like: “Have you done it with her yet? By God, Bo! What are you, a wimp? Or perhaps you’re Gay? Listen; if you ‘don wanna’ (don’t want to) or ‘canna’ (cannot) do it, step aside and let those who ‘canna’ and ‘willa.’ She doesn’t really love you or care for you. If she did, she would.” And to her, it’s the other way round: “What’s the matter with you, Boe? Are you a Lesbian? Hey! Listen. Bo is a good-looking guy and he’s very nice, so if you don wanna or canna do it, some of us girls canna and willa.”

And this – and several other similar questions and remarks which are too many to mention here, and which all of you out there know quite well, plus a few more besides – goes on and on until the others yield, finally. And then they, too, are hooked, or caught in the trap, without any hope, or means, of ever escaping or avoiding what they have (at the time) accepted and/or have become accustomed or addicted to; and, sooner than later, they, too, become one of them; and thus, a few rotten apples in the barrel, slowly but surely, rot all the other apples; and the process continues – fresh apples never cured or converted rotten ones. It’s always the other way round.

AND, these activities and indulgence usually, if not always, lead to very serious and often dire consequences and conditions that involve a lot of trouble, pain, misery, anxiety, and frustration that require very costly treatments, highly potent drugs (exposure to more drugs), medicines, prolonged and tedious and cumbersome processes and procedures that may or may not, cure or reverse them, because these conditions – both mental and physical; I’ll leave the spiritual to those of you out there who believe in it and know it, since I don’t – are usually, if not always, incurable and irreversible.

Peer Pressure is the means and the method by which those that are caught in the traps – or quagmires of sins and iniquities – lure, coax, induce, seduce, and sometimes even intimidate and threaten and/or force others to join them.

Children and teenagers, especially, must be taught and encouraged to say “NO” to their peers – or anyone else, for that matter – whenever it is important and necessary to say “NO” before it is too late, because a great teacher and tutor (that’s yours truly, ME) once said: “It is very easy to form a habit, but very difficult, if not impossible, to break or stop it.” And: “What you hide from your children at home, they will discover outside the home.” As for your peers: “To give a glass of water to a monkey is easy; to get the glass back is something else.”

Your peers, and your friends, for that matter, are temporary, but your parents and family are permanent. Never commit yourself to, or allow yourself be swayed by, your peers or anyone – whoever they or he or she may be, otherwise you will find yourself in a position or situation in which you begin to feel you have certain duties and obligations towards them or him or her, and/or that you owe them some sort or form of loyalty and, again, that you mustn’t betray their trust; and you certainly don’t need that.

This same great teacher and tutor (that’s ME again) once said: “Know your enemies and beware of your friends; because only your friends can get close enough to you to harm you since you keep your enemies at a distance; and your real enemies are those who would hinder you, and deviate you, or lure or coerce you away from your studies, duties, and obligations and responsibilities toward yourself and your parents and your family; in other words, lead you astray. So, in fact, your enemies are your friends.”

Today, they are there, and they demand your company and participation or indulgence in their sins and iniquities – body and mind – and full attention; tomorrow, they are gone, and have left you in the lurch, so to speak. Also, and this is very important, after all is said and done, and like the great teacher and tutor said: “If they were your true friends, they would understand, and respect your feelings, and your right to choose a way of life that you like, and that suits you, and is good for you, not them.”

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