Cafeteria Chaos

'Twas my last day in a high school cafeteria... It's ironic that it was my most eventful, and most anger-provoking day. Never before have I seen such a strong display of rudeness, arrogance, and insecurities in my life! My goals in writing this blog post are to: a) vent out my feelings of intense anger b) explain my problems so others can comment and give me advice, and c) attempt to discover a solution to this mess in the hopes of finding a "moral of the story."

My school is crowded. With a student body of 1,800, we have four separate lunch periods and even then lunch is incredibly crowded! My "lunch group" includes me and five friends, so it's not that large. However, it's amazing how much tension a small group like mine can create. I chose one of the few open tables with my friend Erica. In a minute, the rest of our group joined. After five minutes of eating, a jock sophomore walks up to our table and demands to know why we are there in his spot. My bold friend Tanatswa tells him that it's a first come first serve basis and we got there first. To me, this argument seems so simple. Add the fact that we're seniors, they're sophomores, and it's undeniably in our favor, right? I guess the possible amount of arrogance in a human being exceeds my expectations. He and his friends made such a huge deal out of it, that they whispered about us and took a picture of us, and then for the finale: him and a pack of burly sophomore jock boys come up to our table towards the end of lunch and ask us the question. They demand that we move and yell at us for being in their seats.

"I'm sorry?!? Is this middle school?! Do you have your name written on it? Since when do we have assigned seats? What gives you the right to kick us out? Do you see any other seats nearby that we could sit in? REALLY?!?!?!?" Some of my friends were on the brink of punching them in the face. Seriously, how arrogant can you get? Then one of the nearby girls said in a sassy voice, "We sit here everyday. We sat here before we got our lunches." Okay, I said to my friends afterwords, do they seriously expect us to read their minds that they were going to sit here? Do they really think we saw them five minutes earlier and assume they were coming back?" I was so furious, that I remained quiet while my bold friends yelled back. We remained our ground, until I suggested we go back to class. I was done eating my pizza and no longer wished to engage in the argument. I concluded that they were the biggest jerks to walk this planet and that they have no right to think they're superior enough to expect us to move for them! It's preposterous!

The question is, how do I handle this? Mentally, emotionally, in my mind right now, I am having difficulties. I know it's wrong to hate them or call them jerks, but did my group handle it correctly? The Bible says the first shall be last and the last shall be first, but am I supposed to submissively let their pride win? I am too stubborn to simply let them win. I want to teach them a lesson! I think that there is a fine line between being respectful and kind, and standing up for yourself. In this situation, I'm still confused. What was God trying to teach me? Did He teach them anything? How can He let them drown in their arrogance like that? Why doesn't He step up and humble them immediately?

2 Timothy 1:7 says “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” Does this mean that we did the right thing? I feel like this verse is suggesting that being timid is not advised, but how does that apply to my situation?

Honestly, I'm not 100% sure on what to do in the situation at the time, but I do know how to handle my feelings now. Do you remember when Jesus talked about forgiveness? And Peter came up to Jesus and asked Him how many times he should forgive his brother? What He meant was that we should always forgive, no matter how many times someone wrongs us. Who am I to not forgive someone else when Jesus forgave me and all my sin?

Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV ©2010)

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” ²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

My mom told me some wise advice the other day. She said you should never judge people because most are simply lost souls. Because they have that hole in their life and lack Jesus, they will never understand you. Until they come to Jesus, they'll never truly experience the peace and joy that comes with it. Every time I see people who mess up, I am so quick to judge and look at them despicably. This is so wrong! Who am I to judge those who are just as sinful as me? Who am I to judge those who don't have Jesus in their lives? That should be all the more reason for compassion towards them. I feel genuinely sorry that they lack a purpose in their life. I can't imagine what it would be like to not know where I'm going when I die, or be unaware that there is a powerful God who loves me and lives in me? WHO AM I TO JUDGE THOSE "JERKS" TODAY? WHO AM I TO CALL THEM JERKS?!

God, please forgive me and allow me to let this go. Let me forgive them and everyone who does wrong against me. It doesn't matter what I prove or how right I am. What matters is who I am in You, Lord Jesus, and how I serve You here on this earth. Teach me to forgive unconditionally and show them Your LOVE <3.><


Last picture taken by Bubbly, previous pictures are linked to their sources: cafeteria, jerk pic.