Booting up the Playstation at night in the dark of my room as a child. The bright light of the box and the OG Playstation chime. I was safe in the digital world.
One day, back in high school, I spent the entire day trying to correct a cascade of wrongs caused by idiot kids from school. Without getting into much details, I ran around gathering information on what happened, and tried to stop more idiotic things from happening because high school kids are stupid and immature. At the end of the day, I felt like all my effort amounted to nothing. I felt like for the first time I saw how cruel, shallow, and cheap people really were. I experienced wrong decisions made by everyone that day, from student to faculty. I found myself staring out at the assembly area after school, trying to process everything that just happened. What the fuck was wrong with these people, I wondered. It felt like I was the only one in the whole school who was sane. Out of nowhere, I felt a hand on my shoulder. One of my teachers (who didn't like me nor I him) told me he saw what I was doing that day and thanked me. I teared up right there. We both earned each other's respect that day.
Not necessarily happy memories. I have so few. But these are meaningful memories to me.
