22
Ianto sat with Shay in his lap, watching his father begin his lesson. It felt weird being in his office and not the one behind the desk, his father animated as he did what he did best. entertained.
Then it happened. One of the students answered in a soft breathy voice, almost begging for forgiveness for butting in to point out an inconsistency in an argument. Ianto heard himself in the boy, the hesitation and the quirky yet very accurate response. He leaned around to look and then swung his chair so it rolled on the casters to move him in next to his fatter. The boy had on some glittery eye shadow and definitely fake lashes, some other students were tittering and rolling their eyes as they showed their distain. Then they saw who was watching them next to their professor with a face of stone.
The response was immediate. After all.. who in this age group does not know the father of Piney? Their pin up guy?
"Hello everyone. My father here is borrow my office to teach you and I could not help but overhear your answer…Devon? You are quite right. By that stage of the war neither side could win. It was an act of stupidity to continue as long as they did an the losses incurred were immaterial to them" Ianto smiled softly.
"Sir… do you believe in war?"
Ianto considered "I know it exists, if you want me to be blunt. Do I think it should? No. Do I think it will always exist? Yes. There will always be a black to the white. A yes to the no. It is human nature to fight, after all… you have seen some of these protests right? Some of them do not really even have a passion for the cause, they are there to cause a stink. Some have the wrong end of the stick and are protesting something that is not the fault of the one they have chosen to picket… or they are demanding answers for something that was already sorted out or historic… or my favourites are the ones protesting something beyond our control. Like… it's raining. Let's protest. Where there is an audience, there is something happening. Human nature."
"So ignoring something can be as effective as fighting against it?" a girl asked.
"Ah… putting words in my mouth. OK… if someone walked up to you and pointed at your hair and said "Red hair is the mark of the devil" will you… walk away… make devil horns with your fingers and say that you don't know what they are talking about… laugh… take a swing? You will react… right? The trick is to look through them like they don not exist… then in time… they won't. Like the forgotten lyrics of a song. Stop giving it air… stop saying the words… and they fade away."
Heads nodded as the class took in the words of a great man. He was right. As long as there is a platform for bigotry in any form… there will be bigots to listen to it.
Human nature.
The boy smiled softly, nodding his head as some others in the class looked away as well. Hopefully that sorted that and James was sure the nest time some of them decided to call out the boy out for wearing some eye shadow they would remember this conversation.
"Sometimes addressing a problem only highlights the fact that YOU are the problem" Ianto finished his lesson and concluded with one more comment before he rolled out of shot once more. "Sometimes life does not suit you… boo hoo… get over it. In my house we say 'suck it up buttercup' and then move on to the next drama. After all… you are not always the most important person in the world… even in the room. So what. Live your best life and fuck everyone else… pardon my French. Works for me… worked for my children… and will work for this one in my lap. IF anyone challenges that, they can. I might thump them one… but sure. Go ahead. Be a dickhead. I am still righteous in the fact that I am not the cause of the problem… the whinger is."
Mic dropped ta.
Doctor Harness-Jones has left the group chat.