Things I shouldn't want to do (but totally do)
Social norms are so inhibiting, don't you think? Imagine how great it would
be to nip to the shops in your pyjamas without raising a second glance, or
answer your door in a full panda suit without frightening the postman - and
those are just two of the more mundane possibilities a world without social
restrictions would offer.
Gosh darn it, I want to run down the street in nothing but a cow-print
onesie, singing 'Born Free' at the top of my lungs and feel GOOD about it!
Who's to say I shouldn't?! Who made up these rules for polite society? Maybe
some frivolity and silliness is just what the world needs right now. Wouldn't
it make your day to see someone run past you with twenty helium balloons tied
into their hair, a cat in their arms and a smile on their face? Maybe I'm a
minority, but that sounds pretty fantastic to me.
There is such a wealth of mad and brilliant things one could do given this
level of freedom. For instance, I've always wanted to boycott the traditional
lecture seating pattern, and instead sit on the floor beside the lecturer
(okay, so my biggest motivation for this is that I have the eyesight of a
ninety-year-old woman, but I still think it'd be pretty nifty all the same). I
want to walk into Build-A-Bear and not have to hold back how excited I am about
making a teddy bear. I want to run around the Disney store grabbing things to
show my boyfriend and not feel ashamed when a three-year-old points and laughs
at me. And more than anything else, I WANT TO HAVE FUN IN THE SOFT PLAY CENTRE
AT CODONA'S AGAIN!
I can't do these things. Or rather, I shouldn't. I shouldn't skip down
Union Street, I shouldn't ask for a Big Whopper in McDonald's, I shouldn't push
my face up against the glass of cake shops, and I certainly shouldn't pretend
to be a fish in aquariums. But, to quote my favourite poet, "If you never
did, you should. These things are fun and fun is good."
So I challenge you, reader. Go and do something absolutely mad tomorrow.
Make the general public question your sanity and enjoy every second of it! (And
if you could film it so I can laugh at you too, that'd be great).
- Charlotte Peters
- Charlotte Peters
