The Girl With Arthritis

Children: Some people love them, others don't. Teenagers: Mostly everyone hates them. Maybe that's an overstatement, but that's how I usually feel. I know, I know: We're annoying. We're these disproportioned, pimply creatures that expect to be treated as adults, act like children and have unpredictable moods. I can't really blame you for rolling your eyes every time you see a rowdy group of teenagers walk by. But, I was wondering if we could stop the 'all teenagers are annoying and rude' stereotype? Please? I don't know if this is a world wide phenomenon or if it's just me, but some adults treat me very... Well, not with the respect I treat them with. For example, I was waiting to pay for something at a store. There were two women in front of me. The cashier greeted the Both of them very kindly. Then it was my turn: the cashier wouldn't look at me and didn't even speak to tell me my total, even though I greeted her. One time I was out r...

The other day I was out shopping with my mum. Whilst walking out of one of the shops, a few people gave me a dirty look. I didn't know what that was for, because I hadn't even been looking at them. I looked myself up and down to see if it was because something was wrong with my clothes, but I didn't notice anything. Then it dawned on me: it was what I was carrying. My mum had heavy bags, and I was carrying much lighter ones. I felt like a jerk. It didn't take the dirty looks to make me feel like a bad person. I had always known how wrong it looked that an older person is carrying heavy bags whilst the young person they're with is carrying very light bags. I felt guilty about it for a long time, because it's really not fair to my mum. And I don't want it to be like that: I want to be able to carry the really heavy things. Noticing these things by  myself is guilt enough, but adding people staring is guilt to the infinite level. And then there's my mot...