#emotioal

There's a catering program at my school, and I am part of it, and its one of the best parts of my day. It hasnt always been this way, I got hazed and picked on and would leave the class crying last year. But I also got close to my girlfriend in the class and it got me through a hard time.

In Catering, there's a huge event once a year called Global Fusion. It's the biggest event we have and to be the Chef of a group in it is a pretty big deal. It means youre one of the 9 best kids in the class. And this year I'm a Chef. Going from the scapegoat kid who was picked last every time to the most junior chef is pretty fantastic. Its one of the first times I've felt proud of myself in a long time, despite the hostile throwback from a few other kids.

But my parents have been treating the whole thing like a joke. When I first told my mother, all grinning and excited like a 5 yearold, she just looked up from her computer and said

"Oh. Can your teacher really think thats a good idea?" with this mildly disgusted face, like she's repulsed by the very thought. And then without a second glance she looked back at her computer. No 'Wow!' or 'Good Job' or 'Good Luck'. Not even a 'What Country Are You Doing?'.

Nothing.

And as I shoulder my backpack and bite my lip to keep from crying infront of her, I hear her say "He must have not thought it through all the way. He should have made -kids name- a Chef instead, -My name- cant possibly be the better choice. I hope she doesnt expect me to make time in my day for this crap." under her breath.

Needless to say, I tried not to say much about the event after that. Till tonight, when we had a family friend over. 

One of the requirements for being a part of Global Fusion is you have to sell tickets. And as a firstime Chef, I wanted to sell as many as I could, so I was trying to sell one to this family friend of ours. So after I do the little promo speech, I'm trying to make the event sound even better.

And my mother turns to our family friend and goes

"Its really all just standing in line for terrible food and trying not to throttle the kids who are all proud of cooking it. I'm not going. Neither is -my sisters name-. "

Even though I'm not suppost to and even though I already knew she thought that stuff, I couldnt help crying.

And, here's the real kicker, she rolls her eyes and snaps "Oh stop being such a dramatic teenager. Grow up. I was just giving you honest criticism. If you didnt want some you shouldnt have said anything."

And the only thing I can think is 'How can you do that? How can you just put a disclaimer on the horrible thing you just said and act like its fine? Its not fine. Its not fine at all'

You. Cant. Add. A. Disclaimer. To. An. Insult.

You cant just label something as 'constructive criticism' and say whatever the fuck you want. You cant expect a teenager to just be fine with whatever you throw at them. You cant expect that of anyone.