Respect yourself

from Living City

Some time ago I was invited to a friend’s birthday party. I went with a couple of my friends, and we were having fun, listening to music and socializing.

After some time, as I was passing by an area of the house, I noticed that some girls I knew were playing a drinking game with a group of guys. This game was taking place on a table, with one side being guys and the other side girls. The objective of the game was to drink a cup of whatever drink one had, as fast as possible.

In the first round of the game the girls lost and started to take their t-shirts off. The guys had made up a rule that the team that lost would have to strip off their t-shirts. It was obvious that they were trying to take advantage of the girls by making this stupid rule.

I could see in the girls’ eyes that they weren’t comfortable and that they were pressured by the boys. Instead of being a bystander, I felt I had to stop the game by asking “why?” They suddenly put the t-shirts back on.

“Don’t you have any respect for yourselves? Why would you put yourselves through that?” I asked them. They were embarrassed and apologized to me. I told them they didn’t have to apologize to me, but to think through their actions.

The boys’ reaction was of total silence, as they looked at each other. They were shocked and confused. They didn’t expect to see a guy step in and say no. I didn’t worry about what others would think of me, because I wanted to live the Gospel in a radical way and I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. The girls promised they wouldn’t do it again and thanked me for caring about them.

— P. W., Toronto