Tag: kids

Laughable things I’ve heard in my life

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funny lightbox with popular text slang lmao
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You probably heard the expression, ‘kids say the darnest things.’ But the reason they say laughable things is that they haven’t lived long enough to know things. They don’t see life as adults. You don’t get defended, you just think, well, they’re just kids, and you let it go.

But when adults say or do laughable things behind your back or to your face, it’s not as nice. You get offended and maybe cry, and at the time, it’s not laughable. You feel as if that hurt feeling won’t go away. You might think there is something wrong with you when people say or do offensive things to you.

What’s great about becoming an adult is when you begin to think about how laughable other people’s behaviour against you was. Life experiences change you, and you see life differently. Things that happened when you were a kid and a teenager are irrelevant when you become an adult. People who were in your life then, like schoolmates, are just laughable now. If they hurt your feelings, then you laugh at it now because the people were laughable. The next time, the words or actions bounce off you.

I’ve heard many laughable things during my 48-year-old life. They weren’t laughable then, but now they are when thinking about it. I won’t understand why people can’t keep things to themselves. They probably felt better about themselves if they said it or whispered it to their friends. Toxic people don’t have a place in my life. In anyone’s life.

The first one I remember was when I was probably in 3rd grade, and one of the boys in my class told me I had dirty teeth. That’s hurt me, so I didn’t go to class because of it. I was a sensitive and shy kid. So, I hadn’t brushed them, but so what? No need to point it out.

In 1997, I studied business for a few months. There was this guy in my class who asked me if I had been in a horror movie. I asked why, and he said no reason. So he didn’t like my appearance. It wasn’t like he was an oil painting. I didn’t care about his stupid comment anyway. I should have asked if he’s been in one, but I didn’t think about it then. It really was laughable. Strange that some people criticize someone’s appearance when themselve don’t look anything special. They should keep it to themselves.

One case that wasn’t anything personal, but it was quite laughable when I think about it now. I studied web design in 2017. We had on-the-learning period where we had to find clients to design websites. I got contacted by a possible client. But they said they wanted an more experienced designer. Now, that doesn’t make any sense. I was a student, and I did it for free. If you want an experienced designer, you need to pay for one. No professional does it for free.

The latest laughable thing was when I got a comment in a fan fiction that I’m writing. I don’t remember exactly how it was since I deleted it. Something like I’m wasting my life, and others are living their lives. And yadda, yadda. Who’s wasting their life for real? People who waste their time on commenting on fan fiction, that’s who. Perhaps they don’t like real person fiction or how the story goes. It doesn’t matter. I want to have real comments about the story, and not people complaining about other things. The comment wasn’t only a few lines. The person used a lot of energy on their comment, so they must have a lot of time on their hands. I won’t stop writing because someone says something negative. Writing fan fiction is my way of relaxing and learn writing in English. If everyone who writes stopped at negative feedback, no one would write anything, and the world would be a boring place.

Certain people have negative energy, and they don’t want anyone to try anything. You can’t do this, or you can’t do this. Nice attitude there. Luckily, people still do different things no matter what others say. You might not like what people do or how they look, but you should still have respect for others. There is too much negativity in the world anyway, so spread some positivity instead.

How I became a storyteller

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open book
©Mia Salminen 2015

I’ve never been a book reader, and I prefer watching things on TV. If I read something, it isn’t novels. I’ve read a lot of autobiographies, and when I was a child, I read books for kids. The kids’ books were written in Swedish, and they were easy to read, too. I’ve read books in Finnish as well. The book I read the most was a book about Heidi. It was adapted from a movie. I reread it last summer in a day or two. I own some books, but I go to the library when I want to read a book. I own the ‘Lord of the Rings’ book but have never finished it. My late dad bought it for Christmas, and he read it in one evening. It’s too long for my taste. I prefer the movies. The book that I have read by Tolkien is ‘The Hobbit’. I’ve read that a couple of times. I own one in English, but I have also read it in Finnish once. I’m not patient enough to read long books. Unless it’s a fascinating book or an autobiography.

I’ve always wanted to write and was pretty good at it in school. I didn’t want to write a book, as someone thought I would when I said I wanted to write. I wanted writing to be part of something else. The same goes for photography and graphic design. I don’t want to do only one thing. There are different ways to be a raconteur than someone writing books. I became a storyteller after I found my fascination with fan fiction. I didn’t find stories I wanted to read, so I started to write my own. That’s where I shine the most. But writing fiction is only a hobby and doesn’t pay the bills. It’s also a learning curve for learning English, and I don’t need to read books to keep my imagination running. Some might say that reading books teaches you to use words, but you can also learn words by watching movies or TV shows. I want to write with words that anyone can understand. You don’t need fancy words to write a good story. Writing fiction is easier for me than writing about facts.

For example, I struggle with what to write on social media right now. It’s supposed to be in Finnish, but it doesn’t come naturally to me. I’m so used to writing in English, so writing it in my language isn’t easy. The other thing is that Swedish is my mother tongue, so I find it hard to find words to describe something in Finnish. Knowing three languages can sometimes confuse your vocabulary. When I write fiction in English, the inspiration comes quicker, and I could write for hours. But I get stuck when writing about facts about myself and what I want to achieve. The challenging part is writing about it in Finnish. I’m just not a storyteller when it comes to real life. Things would be easier if I could tell a story the way I write fiction. I guess it’s about getting used to things instead of giving up because something is too difficult. You live, learn, and become a better raconteur when you write as often as possible. That’s the way you learn other things in life. That’s how I learned to write in English in the first place. Practice makes you better at what you do.

Internships are not considered as real jobs

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What jobs have you had?

Daily Writing Prompt

I read about that claim, but I disagree. Just because you haven’t been paid doesn’t mean it isn’t a real job. The only time I got paid was when I worked as a media assistant four years ago. Before that, I had only internships where I got 9 euros a day, plus unemployment benefits. Then, on-the-job learning was part of education. Those are better than no job experience at all. Finding paying jobs is like swimming in syrup. It’s sticky, and you feel like you’re in can’t get out of it.

I’ve had internships that I had to take to get work experience. At the time, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I have more education than jobs. That’s the way it is, and I can’t change it. My first ever internship was in the kindergarten, but the only fun thing was being with the kids. They were so sweet. The rest wasn’t fun, so I won’t mention them. One of the first was in a net cafe, the most boring thing ever. There was nothing to do. I was supposed to help people with computers, but there were only a few customers. Other times, it was only sitting around and doing nothing. I also updated the memberships list on the computer. Once, I made a flyer about an event, but that’s about it.

The next job wasn’t much better but wasn’t as bad. It was mostly office work, posting things and so on. A few times, I took photos with a bad camera. Both of these jobs were in organisations, so they couldn’t pay. It was still a job or a workplace. That’s better than staying at home. At least I got something more than benefits.

Another internship was also in a boring place. It was a mail service business. I helped with packaging and updated customer contact information. Not a very exciting job. I didn’t like it, but I had to be there for about 2 months. When it ended, I was relieved.

The following internships involved education. One was in a local newspaper, where I studied visual expression for two years, between 2009 and 2011. We had on-the-job learning in the 2nd year. I did graphics for a local newspaper. Finished maps and infographics for the paper. I was a little disappointed I didn’t get to do anything graphic design or photography. In fact, it was boring, and I was too shy to say much to my co-workers. One said they could teach me to draw, but I never asked. I wish I did, but what was done is done. I was only happy I didn’t need to travel to school for a month.

In 2012, I was a photographer for another local newspaper. But they only let me be there for 2 weeks. They made me believe they would consider me for a more extended period, but they probably already had some students coming in. So disappointing, but at least I got a few photos in the newspaper that I still have. Even if it was for a short time, that was probably the best internship I had so far. I liked I didn’t have to stay in the office all day. That was the job I wanted to do, to do different things.

My last education-related on-the-job learning was in 2017 when I studied web design for a year. We had one in the Spring and the other in the Autumn. The first one, I had one client. I did web design, but it wasn’t easy since I don’t like coding. I still don’t. I got something done, though. The client was understanding. I got good feedback, so it was nice to read. For the one in the Autumn, I had two clients. It was crucial to have at least two because we would have a presentation of our work in front of evaluators to pass the course. I did web and graphic design. One was a remake of a WordPress site. The other was designing a logo and a new website with WordPress. I truly liked freelancing, and then I started to think about entrepreneurship, but that’s another story.

Those were the jobs I had. Internships are real jobs, and it’s a shame employers don’t appreciate them. It feels like they have syrup in their brains, so they can’t see the bigger picture. There can be other reasons, too, but that’s how it feels. All I can think is it’s their loss. It doesn’t make me feel better, but it does bring me some comfort.