XDF TMC
时间：每周六晚19：00-21：00
地点：济南市历下区历山路142号凯旋商务中心A座3层新东方3楼3教
Days ago, I was driving to somewhere with my friend. All of sudden, I saw an old man was crossing the road. Naturally, I slowed down the car, and stopped in front him. I waved my hands to show that I wanted him to go first. The old man gave me a smile, and began to move. While I was feeling good about what I had done, the driver behind me began to beep. But I did nothing, and then he switched to another traffic lane and reached my car. He rolled down the window, and shouted at me: hey, dude, what’s the matter with you? Is it the first day you drive? Meanwhile, my friend said to me, oh harry, you are such a different person.
Dear toastmasters and welcomed guests, I am Harry, and this is my CC5 speech. Tonight I would like to share with you my different life.
If you knew me well, I am different from others in many aspects. Firstly, I strictly followed the traffic lights. When I was passing across the road, I waited until the light turned into green. Even it’s in the midnight when there were no cars on the road. Secondly, I queued for my turn when I was buying tickets or food. When I could not find my ID card or forget to buy the soup, I would go to the end of the line, and waited for my turn agin. Thirdly, I did mute my cell phone when I entered a library or a meeting room, and I never answered phones in those places. Many of my friends saw me as a good boy, while other people thought I was old school. When people asked me why I was such a different person? I usually told them that I followed the traffic lights because I worried about my safety; I kept in the queue because I was not in a hurry; I muted my phone because it was written on the board. At those moments, the sentence I heard the most was: oh Harry, you are such a different person.
Actually, I was not such different when I was a little kid. I was like my friends. When my friends threw rocks to break the neighbors’ window, I helped them collect the rocks. When my friends were stealing the watermelons, I was the eye man. I learned to play poker even I didn’t like it at all. You may wonder why I was doing that. Ever since the young age, my grandfather, whom I regarded as a wise man, told me that: hey son, you are about to enter school, do remember the following two lessons. Lesson one: the minority is subordinate to the majority. Lesson two: when you are in a fight, always pick the group who has more people. I was sure my grandfather wouldn’t do anything bad to me, and what he said was for my good. You see, the non-different character is in our culture. The seed was planted in our heart when we were kids. As an old saying says, shoot the bird which takes the lead. Gradually, we are afraid of being different. But is this right?
Yes, you may drive on the emergency vehicle lane for no one is watching, but what if you are in the ambulance car, extremely wick, and could not pass through because so many cars are in the lane. Yes, you may turn on your cell phone on the plane, but what if the flying signal is distracted and every one’s safety is threatened. After all, rules are made to prevent something bad happen. There are some rules which seem quite unreasonable to you, but at least they means a lot for many people else. Our grandparents went through a time filled with poverty and hunger. For many cases, they did not follow the rules because of living. They worried they might get the food, so sometimes they did not queue in the line; they worried they might not get on the car so they pushed against each other. But things have changed. Nowadays we need not to fight for food, for water, for getting on the bus. After all, you can always get them, and it’s just a matter of time. Every time, when you are about to break to the rules, please consider the question that are you in that hurry?
To be frank, I don’t like to be a different person. I hope I live in a world where everybody does things following the same rules. I hope one day when I am getting older, when I am walking slowly on the road, there is a young man would stop his car, and the people who behind him will not beep their cars. I hope this day will come soon, and I will not longer be a different person.
