It happened ten years ago, but I still remember this seemingly insignificant incident.

I'm in sixth grade. I stayed after class to do classroom chores. I’m mopping floors, and two of my classmates are doing other things, while the Russian teacher is sitting at her desk grading papers.

I wring the rag and I'm about to put it on the mop when I realize that I took the only rag that doesn’t have a hole for a mop in it from the closet. I get all worked up and say: “The rag without a hole again. I hate this rag!”

And the teacher tells me, “Don’t you think hate is too strong an emotion to feel towards a rag?”

I remember that to this day. And now, when I want to hate something or someone or just get worked up because of something inconsequential, I hear that voice in my head... Hate is too strong an emotion to feel towards a rag.

And it really helps.

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This is a translation of this story: https://pikabu.ru/story/nenavist_3638390. I read it eight years ago, and it's lived rent-free in my head ever since.

Notes:

By "classroom chores," I'm referring to the common practice of having kids clean up the classroom, wipe the blackboard, water the plants, etc. I don't personally remember mopping floors; it may vary from school to school. I'm not sure "classroom chores" is the correct term for this.

"Rag" in Russian can be used as an insult towards a person, usually one with a weak will (a wimp).