My Life as a Rebel
My rebellion started in earnest when I was 16. I was against anyone in authority- especially my parents and my teachers. I only did what I wanted to do, and of course mostly what I wanted to do was that adults around me told me what I shouldn't do. As time went on, I kept getting into bigger and bigger jams, one after another. My dad told me I needed discipline, and sooners or later I would get it, he said, whether in army or in prison. But of course I laughed in his face. Because of alcohol and drugs, I was in a fog a lot of time. Somehow I made it through high school, but it didn't take me long to flunk out of college. So, naturally, I went into the army. My dad was wrong, though: my know-it-all attitude got me a dishonourable discharge in less than six months. I couldn't find a job and, quite honestly, I didn't look very hard for one.
After all, working is certainly no fun. It didn't take me long to get into trouble with the law, but I was lucky once again. I got off on probation. I got only into another, bigger mess, and this time the judge gave me 12 years. I'm in prison now. I don't have any freedom, the food is terrible, and my only friends are criminals. I count the days until I can get out of here. I hope that my father was right, after all; maybe the army didn't give me the discipline I need, but maybe prison life will. There is nothing I want more than to get out and try again to make a different life for myself.
The point I want to make is this: Even if you don't agree with your parents, listen to them. They were once your age, even if it was a long time ago, but you haven't gotten to their age yet. So they know more things more than about you do, because they have twice as much experience. When people who care about you tell you something, maybe you should listen to them. Now that it's too late, I realize I was wrong about all the important things. Yes, Mr. Rebel Man, I hear your scorn and your ridicule. Laugh if you want to, just like I did. After all, you know better than everyone else, don't you? But when you end up behind the bars, who is the joker then?