Everything will not be better

This is a series of reflection papers I must write for a general education class titled Science, Technology and Society. The weekly assignments are to read the assigned text and reflect, academically, but using "I", on one part of the reading.

Reflection: Week 3

“Everyone says that it’s what’s inside that counts, and that makes me feel good,” Alex says, “but if I was the tallest instead of the shortest, everything would just be better. People would sit with me at lunch, I’d have more friends, and people in my class wouldn’t make fun of me and call me Little Everett,” (108).

I don’t care that Alex and his family decided to use Humatrope, a lab brewed human growth hormone nearly identical to what is secreted by the pituitary gland. Yes, I have a guttural rejection to the notion of putting foreign chemicals into my body. It’s this sort of knee jerk reaction that incites a list of “They” concerns. Yes, take this drug, that’s what “they” want you to do. This is how “they” will turn us into super soldiers. “They” are brainwashing our youth! When I wade through those unchecked fears of science and government evil plots to destroy the world in which they too must live, I’m left thinking, “Not my choice. Don’t care.” If the family wants to spend their money on human growth hormones, I won’t stop them.

On the other hand, it’s just lazy parenting to let their nine year old son believe that everything will be better if he were a little bit taller. Apparently this family has not read the great work of literature, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. In this great American tale, the host gives his house guest the mouse, a cookie, as good hosts do. This leads to a string of requests the mouse feels he is entitled to and the host’s health and well-being suffer in an effort to accommodate his guest. If Alex in fact grows to an acceptable or normal height  he will find out that everything is not better. Even if he perceives everything as better he will have a hard time establishing a correlation between his acceptable height and his perceived happiness. Chances are if no one likes him while he’s short, this won’t change once he’s grown. When he comes to realize that everything is not better he will likely think of another thing he must change. AND THEN everything will be better. Unrealistic. Being ridiculed is part of being human. Plain and simple. I was called a boy and an ogre until high school. I still have body image issues, but those issues are my issues. I don’t have to feel that way. Don't get me wrong--it's hard to remember my weight and perceived masculinity are not connected to my self-image because the perception and objectification of women in our society. As a result I’ve developed a wicked sense of humor as a defense which has carried me through many hard times. It’s free so it doesn’t matter that my insurance doesn’t cover it.

It is my opinion that there are more pressing concerns than someone being short. I am not trying to trivialize young Alex's experience, but everything will not be better if he grows. We will still spray poisonous chemicals on our food, disturb entire ecosystems, bomb innocent civilians, rape, murder and enslave each other. What’s on the inside does not count for everything, but if it isn’t valued by the individual no physical change will make anything better. Many of us would not be alive if it weren’t for modern medical knowledge and technology. I’m thankful my mother and I both survived my birth. I don’t mind dealing with my short, stout, round body and the resulting cynical personality. C’est la vie.