| One day you were born in a hospital in a bed, or in your house maybe a bath? You were named after a great grandparent or an idolised rugby star, a pretty flower. You were celebrated for days on end and still remain to be continually showered in praise. Your parents call you important, a sweet heart, the light of their life. You start your day on a full tummy and end it with a hug from mummy. You play for the top sport team and enjoy the company of many mates. |
| You have 100 more followers than all your friends. Bill from down the road isn’t even close to reaching your best liked photo on Instagram. You are liked by the opposite sex and enjoy the attention. You hear the comments in the hall. “man they look good today” “Jesus christ I would kill to have a body like that”. This fuels your fire, encourages the light to burn bright and the idea of invincibility coats your mind. |
| You drive Mum’s old car for skids at the Outlet and expect to return back for dinner .You find Year 13 boring and are excited for the prospect of University and the chance for independence. You expect many great things in these coming adult years. Because you are important, a sweet heart, the light of their life and Mother did not raise no loser. You want money, fame and good fortune. You want happiness and acknowledgment, you want a good job, you want stability, you want to get married. |
| You want 3 kids 2 boys one girl. Because girls are hard work. She would be named Rose after the pretty flower and the boys Ritchie and Kieran after the best rugby players of all time. Up the All Blacks. You want a large house with a bigger pool than Bill’s and an even bigger backyard for Kieran and Ritchie to kick in. You expect all of this. Like its a gift from god. You expect pounds of luck. You expect life to be moderately hard. Hard is my middle nam, life won’t be hard. |
| Because guess what world I am a white and I was born in New Zealand. A privileged human. A good human, a wise human. A human taught from day one what to expect from society. Your parents said all you gotta do is find a partner get an education and things will be good. What is good? I bet you Daddy didn’t tell you what happens when you get fired for sleeping in. Daddy didn’t tell you that no one wants a partner who makes half as much as Bill? But darling, i’m important, a sweet heart, the light of your life. |
| Ha Guess what so is every Tom, Sarah, Jack, Rachel and Bill. Guess what you will fail and it is going to sting. A longer lasting sting that stops you from going out with the homies on a Saturday night. Your body will be shocked with this feeling of change. It Keeps you tucked under your Kmart duvet for days on end. Because Mum isn’t there to plaster your bumps or write you a note. |
| One day you will no longer be number one. You will soon release you aren’t top gun. You my white fellow Male and Female individuals will find out quite soon you are entitled to nothing. Entitlement is defined as the fact of having a right to something. What right now do you feel entitled to? The chairs you sit on, the education you receive, the air that your little lungs breathe. I know I feel entitled to it. |
| I have done my part. I come from a good family. I cleaned the dishes this morning and oh I volunteered for Challenge Wanaka way back when. I deserve this. and maybe well everyone does. But have you ever thought maybe you don’t? What if one day you awake. education is removed. you are entitled no longer. 1 in 4 million children in the middle east are not entitled to basic schooling. Every 21 minutes a child under five dies in the african continent from preventable disease. Are they not entitled to life. |
| Me, you, I ,us have had a great run. An amazing run, a run conducted by Mum. A run that is not similar to everyone. But this run changes next year and entitlement unconsciously coats our expectations. I believe everyone is this room expects something. Different levels of expectation perhaps. But it’s still present. I was born 6637 days ago. In Christchurch at exactly 1:26 am on June the 20th 1999. I was born a Female. I was born white. Roughly that year there were 59,120 babies born in New Zealand. I was probably number 29,500. It’s scary isn’t it? |
| The fact that you are just a number in the wake of the world. I was named after my great Grandmother, my parents call me important, a sweet heart, the light of their life. I believe them. I go to school and come back safe. I expect that. I never wonder from the norm. I unconsciously expect food and shelter 24/7. I have a shower every morning and clothes to put on my back. I go to bed 10pm every night and wake up alive. Do I think about others receiving the same treatment I do all over the world on a daily basis. No. |
| Do I lie awake at night thinking about the starving children deprived from education in the Middle East No. However ironically I am thinking about that stupid assessment tomorrow and what I will eat for breakfast the following morning. I live a life many people can’t comprehend however I expect more. I believe that entitlement needs erasing. Without entitlement nobody is let down. Everyone must work to gain their desires. |
| By removing this idea from your mind and hopefully this will allow you to survive. Because going into the world expecting entitlement will leave you ultimately lonely and quiet shook. Because honey there are so many other lights in the world and expected entitlement will not lead to to a happy retirement. |
