You hate her.
Oh, do you hate her.
This 16-year-old kid.
You hate her. Because you can't understand her. And that makes you afraid. And so you have to make her into a monster.
Most of all, you hate her because she's from the future.
That's right, the future.
That's the part that really gets you. Right there.
See? You're that guy. Privileged. Entitled. Spoiled. You're the guy who throws your trash out the window into somebody else's front yard and drives away without slowing down. Without a second thought.
Somebody will pick it up.
Somebody. Not you.
Yep, that's you. Leaving your garbage for somebody else.
Yeah, that's you. That's how you see climate change. A mess, for somebody else to clean up. The future's problem. Somebody. Not you.
You figured you'd be dead, right?
Yeah, you'd be dead by the time the bill came due and you wouldn't have to pay.
You were going to stiff the future for the check.
Except, here she is.
The future. In your face. Bold. Brash. Pigtailed and pissed off.
You threw your trash out the window into her front yard and she caught you, got your license plate number and tracked you down. Here she is, with your garbage, demanding that you clean it up.
And you're not ashamed. No.
You're not embarrassed.
Because you don't have that much self-awareness, that much self-respect.
No, you're MAD. ****ing kid. How dare she rub your nose in what a selfish son of a bitch you are, right?
THAT's what you're mad about.
That you got caught.
You thought you'd never be held to account. You thought the future would never show up on your doorstep. You were gonna escape. Ha ha! Your problem, bitches!
But here she is.
Demanding you pay your own check. And boy oh boy, does that make you mad.
But that's not why you hate her.
No, you hate her because SHE has the courage to stand up when others won't.
You hate her because she has the guts to face down the entire world without flinching.
You hate her, because you know she's right.
Most of all, you hate her because she's from the future and she's fearless.
She's fearless.
And you aren't. -
Jim Wright