The Context:

Random teenager on the bus this morning, fidgeting in an infuriating and somewhat uncomfortable-sounding way with a hot-pink PSP that I strongly suspect was not actually his. Said random teenager also happened to be listening to music, which happened to be by-the-numbers rap with the usual ineptly-applied 'samples' that just made the whole mess one bit more tuneless and a nice sideline in misogyny.

How do I know this so precisely?

Because said random teenager appeared to have decided that the rest of the good souls on the 319 really, really wanted to be subjected to it as well. Which I found both needlessly obnoxious and self-centered behavior (couldn't he have worn headphones?) and somewhat self-defeating.

I don't get the appeal of this. Not just because it's rude, but because the sound reproduction is so horribly poor. Headphone technology is increasing by leaps and bounds - and what you the listener really want is to enjoy your music through a single crappy speaker that sounds like a transistor radio playing from inside a biscuit tin? Is it me, or is this just obnoxiousness for the sake of it?


The Catalyst for this Post:

The misogynistic lyrics I was force-fed through said biscuit-tinned transistor. Not because they're just misogynistic, since 'Rap Lyrics Misogynistic!' is right up there with 'Pope Is Catholic, Claims Vatican Aide' and 'Bear: I Shit In Woods' as far as Big, Shocking Reveals go, but because of one line pertaining to a single concept.

Said concept? Respect, or rather the lack of it the singer was recieving from his fictional 'bitch'.

Respect?

Cut to scene of laila, sitting across the aisle from said lyrics' consumer, who presumably is listening to this crap because it somehow speaks to him, trying not to fume too noticeably (since badly-behaved teenagers on buses generally give her the creeps anyway), for reasons that may become obvious to anyone who knew me in Autumn 2005.


The Complaint:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I always kind of thought that respect was something an individual had to earn, not something that was automatically conferred upon them for no reason other than they think they deserve it. Hell, we all think we're special snowflakes.

I would not respect any individual who appeared to be under the delusion that the correct term for the female of the human species is not a 'woman' but a 'bitch'. If a man I was involved with started doing that, I would wonder what the Hell I'd ever seen in him in the first place and quickly hit the road.

Women are not dogs, kid. They don't come when you whistle and roll over cringing and whining at the first sign of disapproval.

Likewise I fail to see how any self-respecting adult could have any respect for somebody - and that means you, my obnoxious adolescent friend - who clearly had so little respect for them. It's a two-way street. Making people afraid of what you'll do to them if they stick up to you does not, no matter what popular culture might like to say on the matter, mean they respect you.

My silence this morning didn't mean I respected your authoritah to play whatever crap you liked at whatever volume you liked. It was the silence of a woman who once got assaulted on a bus for doing nothing more challenging than staring out the window. If someone's sitting there in silence while scribbling obscenities directed in your general direction inside their head - honey, that's not respect. That's putting up with an annoyance because the alternatives aren't worth the hassle. Please learn to tell the difference.

If you can't respect anyone else, why the Hell should they respect you?