Respect is Reciprocal

"Respect comes in two unchangeable steps: giving it and receiving it."

-Edmond Mbiaka

Show me respect and I will give it back to you. Disrespect me and be ready to see the weird side of me. That is the truth. Do you want respect? You earn it. Respect is Reciprocal. We all are entitled to respect because we all are human beings with feelings and emotions.

Respect isn't only by adding "ma" "sir", but by your interaction with people and how you relate with them. There is a limit to things except you want to go overboard and be disgraced all your lives.

One thing I really do not like or let me say what I hate is when you are taking advantage of me especially because I have a short stature. People expect to be respected when they think they are older or bigger than you. They want respect when they have achieved success and because you haven't reached where they are, they become boss over you and expect to be respected when you have not earned it yourself. It's not done that way.

Some people are really funny. When they get married or give birth before you, automatically they deserve respect, not minding if you are of the same age. Who does that? You don't tell me to respect you, you earn it yourself by how you relate and act towards people.

There is a need for you to know your worth and value yourself if you want people to respect you. Treat everyone with respect and do not discriminate or be biased in how you do things.

Being a lady with a short stature, I never allowed people to ride on me or cheat me and I know how I class myself so others would know I don't give a damn. I respect you, you respect me and if you think you want to prove smart, then get ready to see the other side of me.

There was a guy living in the same house with us. I just finished my secondary school then and because this guy has a huge body and he's tall, I never knew I was even older than him. People call him "big daddy" in the neighborhood.

I will always respect him and even add "Brother" to his name. Because of this, there is a way he treated me like a small child. He would send me on an errand which I thought was way older than me. He would always relate with me anyhow he liked.

The day he opened up unknowingly to me about his age, I was even older than him. That was when I changed at him and he couldn't believe me the next day when I called him by his name without adding "Bro ''. He was surprised, and I had to let him know I am older than him and because of his big stature, he treated me just like a little child, sending me on errands every time and there was this way he would shout my name then. But the day I knew his age and someone who doesn't deserve my respect, I changed immediately.

There is nothing bad in respecting him even if he is younger than me but he wasn't giving me the tiny bit of respect I deserved.

No matter who we are, even a little child deserves respect because if you aren't careful, such a child might drag you to the mud and be embarrassed.

I have a cousin who is the same age as me. He is still in secondary school because of some challenges that occurred in the family then. He has a short stature and because of that, he treats himself as a small kid and does not place himself where he ought to be. This is what people saw in him and they related with him as their mates and even someone so young. He is 28 yrs but acts like a 12 yr old guy because of how he is and was not ready to class himself.

This made a guy who shouldn't be more than 29 or 30 yrs to see him as a small boy and would just talk to him anyhow. I was angry two days ago with the way he talked to my cousin and this guy couldn't talk back to him.

I called my cousin and made him realize he isn't a small boy and shouldn't allow anyone take him for granted except he allows that.

If I am able to witness such a scenario again with the guy, I would talk back and let him know my cousin isn't a small boy and should learn to address him in a polite way or else, he might lose the respect I have for him.

Sincerely, you shouldn't allow anyone take you for granted because you refused to class yourself and know your value. It is how you see yourself, people will see you and take advantage of you, instead of standing on your ground to defend who you truly are.

Never allow anyone to override you but let them know their place and know your place too.

Thanks for reading

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[April 07, 2022] (No 97 article for the year)