Being Rebellious While Young; A Chip Off the Old Block

Two types of people exist in this world—those who follow the rules set upon them and those who simply don’t. I was the latter, for the most part.

All my life, my grandparents raised me in a life of picking crops. It was hard work. My knees were bent all day while the scorching sun beat down on my back. Sometimes there was rain. I still remember how I ran with the others towards my grandfather’s old Ford for cover. It was a rough life, and I wanted something more out of it.

I couldn’t see myself doing field work for the rest of my life. I wanted to escape, which was ironic considering I was raised in a tightly-knit family. How could I want escape? But I did. I wanted freedom.

My rebellious tendencies sprung from this grueling situation. Where my dad (grandfather), brothers (uncles), and sister (aunt) worked all day in the fields either picking crops or weeds, I sought to work two jobs after school, one as a waiter at a Chinese restaurant and the other as a cashier at a local beer store. Not only that, I wanted to enter the Marines, much to both my grandparents’ disappointment.

It was arduous to balance school and my two jobs, but my determination saw me through. I was going to make more out of my just-above-poverty-line life.

I’ll give my mother some credit for my rebellious streak. She was an independent, strong woman who needed no man. There was one time, however, when she thought we needed to talk about my biological father. I had none of it. I felt that there was no need to.

I bore the same headstrong attitude towards life as her. There was another time when these other kids bullied me. My mom, unlike any other mom who would have rushed to their son’s aid if they saw him getting beaten up, yelled at me instead and said that I would receive a worse beating from her if I didn’t stand up and fight back. Though tears streaked down my face, I got the courage to do the exact same thing and successfully defended myself.

In a way, I was proud to be a chip off the old block. Yes, I went against the grain that caused hurt feelings for both my grandparents. I might have even sounded ungrateful for everything they had done for me with my defiance, but it was also because of my rebellious nature that I was able to elevate my status to where it is today.

If I hadn’t rebelled, I might have just been an ordinary field worker for the rest of my life.

 

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