Sunday, October 23, 2005

passing thoughts: the brave among us

i was on the cab a couple of days ago or so and some DJ or speaker by the name of Eugene had this "how not to be judgemental" section on "A slice of life" or something like that. As i was listening, i realised we could be less judgemental of people by putting ourselves in their shoes (thoughts wise).

i recalled jiahui's conversation with me in school one day, and another with shereen & party on the same issue. we were appalled at such happenings in sch.

as i re-think about those gals in ECH or anywhere else who have chosen to keep their babies or foetuses (at the time when they were still struggling to decide), i find them to be brave souls. for one, they're not even adults yet - merely teens with some sort of raging hormmones. some people might argue that it serves them right for not using protection, blablabla, but seriously. i'd rather look at how they handelled the following problems.

weren't they afraid to tell their parents?

didn't they have fears of walking around for the whole world to see that they have a big, growing tummy?

i bet they were worried about other things too. especially - what the arrival of a baby would mean for them.

just imagine. if u were in their shoes, u've hardly got ur diploma in your hands, u don't have a stable income and worse - maybe your BF (the possibly irresponsible guy who contributed into the making of your baby) didn't want you anymore. u would feel SO ALONE! life really could be much better and u probably wished it would become so.

however, all the above problems could've been settled with an abortion. its sad to know that people pay with money for what money could buy (eg. clothes, etc) and end up having some sort of materials to bring home and enjoy but pregnant teens who choose to abort spend their $ to take something away from them. and its not just something. its a life. plus. they get free "gifts". abortion brings about more problems - they may never be able to conceive again, and there could be severe problems with their periods. from a friend's own experience (she's not a teen though), blood clots in her and then flows out in clots and her MAXI 30cm pad overflows within 30mins. i can't imagine myself living with that or anything worse. how many of us would even dare to think about it?

its amazing how those teens out there, and especially those in field of ECH courageously chose to keep their babies. it seems to me they value life more than anything.. obviously more than the problems that they KNEW they had to face.

but either way.. i've thought about how they could feel if they chose to abort the kid. imagine. u're currently undergoing an ECH dip course. for example, 3 years down the road u're gonna be this teacher in a childcare centre and it so happens that u're teaching the toddler group. it certainly doesn't help as that could possibly remind u of the fact that u paid $500 to murder your own kid. AND. they could have thoughts like.. "if i had chosen to keep xxx, xxx too would be a toddler by now". argh! painful memories!

why is society prejudiced against such brave people? society is SO judgemental of them... but they never really understood the underlying problems these women face and have to find some way or other to cope. (well like i said ppl would probably think the problem lies in the fact that they didn't use any form of protection!) imo, they don't deserve to be chided at. not at all. yes - i do admit that they have made a mistake, but name me a human who doesn't make any mistakes at all! what's more important is how we deal with the challenges we face in life - whether or not they were self-created. and that's what i applaud them for. and that's where i find their bravery and courage.

OMG. didn't u know that having to face the world at 18 with a kid that's like.. a couple of months old requires more courage that u could ever imagine? i certainly DO NOT think they would enjoy the all-eyes-on-me-and-my-kid and where's-the-dad? kind of attention that they probably experience every other day.

-.-
bee at 2:47 AM