Loss--Mine, Yours, And All Those Before

Recently, my freshman class began its annual "student council/student politicians" elections. I ran for president, my friend ran for secretary, another ran for Freshman Representative, and another went for Vice. I mean, I suppose I could count him as a friend. I guess he's more like an acquaintance, but that's beside the point. The point is, I lost. Apparently, since I couldn't go to school because of the COVID outbreak pertaining to the staff is making its way around, I lost badly. Or maybe not so badly, since the conversation I had with one of my friends went roughly like this. 

Me: Was it close?

Her: no

Me: Wow. Well, good for her.

I lost to someone I never thought I could lose to. I never thought I could lose to her because she's got a reputation for being a pretty awful person-to people who manage to speak up about it, of course. Or, the people she likes, those she doesn't constantly berate and insult. And so, here I am, expecting to win out of the goodness of my heart, and I don't. I win nothing. I didn't make it. And that... really does not make a girl feel very good about herself, let me tell you. But I'll also let you in on a secret. Kids my age dislike anyone who doesn't think like them. Or, they just vote for whoever gets to them first, because they're too soft to tell that person that they disagree with the things they've been saying, and so appease them with their penchant to conform. But, and here's the kicker, I didn't, in the end, decide to challenge the belief of any of these kids--I thought that, in my campaign, that I should be willing to listen, and so I did--I built myself up from the sentence that has become my slogan: "I'm not working for you, I'm working with you." And I thought it would do something. I thought, well, these are mature young adults, they should understand what I'm trying to say, shouldn't they? 

Right?

Apparently not. which really, really sucks. But I'm not here to bash on anyone's opinions of me. I understand. I've been outspoken against the majority for as long as I've lived where I do. People dislike me because of my penchant to deliberately challenge the patriarchy, hierarchy, and everything in-between. But, as my dad says, it's a good experience for next time. It's a good thing to be aware of in the next election. It's a popularity contest, and with this girl, who won against me, I'm well aware that she has no out-of-the-box thinking, and that's exactly what kids look for in an authority figure, whether they realize it or not. Someone that will easily do what they want, because they have the same ways of thinking. Because they're all the same. Because kids here are afraid. Of the unknown, of the difficult, of the brand new. 

I'll jump down from my ivory tower. But trust me, I'm not going to leave my stuff behind up there. I will hang onto my beliefs until they are heard. Trust me. I'm a force to be reckoned with.

Losers, stand with me. Winners, trust me. Trust me.