I went to my sister’s talent show at the school. She was six or seven. I was eight or nine.
We sat there and some girl went up to play.
She started playing the violin and she made a mistake. She played again, and she made a mistake. And again. And then she started crying.
Everyone cheered and clapped for her. And then she finished.
My Dad taps me and goes, “How was that son?” I was like, “Shit.”
We finished watching the rest of the talent show. Then we drove home. Completely uneventful. We get to the house.
Dad gets my sister’s violin, gives it to me and goes, “Play the violin”.
“But I can’t”. He said, “No, you said that girl was shit. You want to sit there and judge someone who’s doing something you can’t even do. You said she’s shit, so play the violin like she did”.
“I can’t Dad.” He said, “Then why’d you say she was shit”?
He beat the fuck out of me that day.
I’ve kept that lesson forever.
Elon’s putting rockets in space. He’s literally advancing humanity. He’s putting chips in people’s brains. And there are people on X who’ve achieved nothing, hating on him.
I can’t put rockets in space. So I respect what he’s doing. I respect him as an individual because he’s doing things I cannot do.
Because that was trained into me on violin day.
Next time I was asked, “What do you think of that skateboarder”? I was like, “Well, I can’t do that. So I respect them”.
Maybe they fell off, but I can’t do it. If I want to have an opinion on them, I have to become competent in that field.
Even my enemies who I don’t like, who I may disagree with ideologically, I can still respect if they’ve achieved something. I’m not emotional about it.
I became very realistic about the world with that one ass kicking.
All it takes is one good ass kicking. You learn fast. Kids nowadays don’t have that.
- Tate