Take caution that I'm about to embark on a cold, heartless (then again, what doesn't constitute such a category in our indifferent and apathetic world) rant and if-I-should-say-so-myself, a painless truth that brings much suffering to many of us.

If you don't have the time, just food for thought then (but it's a mouthful indeed): Who the hell gave our parents the infallible right and unchallenged authority to control our lives.

Yes, we've gone through the whole moral and ethical discussion about the birth pangs your mother weathered, the financial and emotional burden you were and still are, and the (many?) precious moments that you found bliss in your family. Sure, we have that and that. But we also have this: that parents have assumed the roles of control freaks.

Control is a strong word that is often found in association to dictatorial regimes or inhumane systems which garners no basic human right to make decisions as an individual lusting for liberalism and power.

Parents are given the life-long duty as guardians, to watch over and ensure our safety, and perhaps that entails shaping our upbringing. To an arguable extent, that would have to involve controlling certain aspects of our lives, especially when a child is young and innocent and definitely know no better. Then of course, there are no qualms about a parent chiding his/her child for straying.

Fast forward two decades and beyond, I should assume that with any natural process of maturing and growing up, that authority and given right to control should gradually dissolve and be imbued as a skill in the child who now knows how to face the treachery of this world.

But of course not. Parents can't let go. And now even a basic human right such as this has been constituted as a given right.

I do apologize for being rude. Here is my belated list of gratitude:

Thank you for bringing me into this world.

Thank you for giving me the permission to live, eat and breathe the same precious elements that you intake.

Thank you for granting me access to the restroom whenever nature calls.

Thank you for giving me permission to sleep at night and not be by your bedside doing your bidding.

This is not to be mistaken for a desperate plea by a slave to delay his execution for another day. This is precisely the list which parents beckon for each day by holding on to their reins over us.

Maybe they're just preparing us army. Yea, that's probably it. Everything has to be permissible before executed and even then, granted as a privilege.

Good thing we never have to ask for permission to leave if we never are planning to come back...

We'll see.