Respect.....or not.

So everyone always says you have to earn someone else’s respect, and you should always treat others with respect.....conflicting? Sort of. I always found that those who just demanded respect are often the ones who don't deserve it. I had a teacher. Obviously. But this teacher was one that always preached to treat others how you would want to be treated and blah, blah, blah. However this was the most disrespectful, rude, kid-hating, angry, scary woman I had ever met.

One day, she's droning on and on about God knows what, and I'm a little tiny elementary student. I had to pee. Shit.
So, I waited until she was done talking and when she was handing out our work sheets, I asked if I could please go to the bathroom. I wasn't about to pee my pants, but I couldn't not think about it either.
She of course asked if it was an emergency, with which I responded "Um, I don't think so...” and she replied "Well then, you can wait."
Seriously? I was so angry! I know my face immediately turned red, and not only was that slightly humiliating, I really did have to go to the bathroom. And though it had only been a few minutes, the urge to go was rapidly growing. I asked again, and this time I responded it was an emergency. I was granted with a "Well, it wasn't a few minutes ago, so I think you can hold it."
I wanted to cry.
I held it until lunch time, and I got to go. But that night I went home and told my mom, and I thought I was red in class!
She wrote a letter to the school, and called the principal the next day. She just said that if any of her children attending the school ever had to use the restroom, they could.
I felt that my teacher not allowing me to go to the bathroom was total disrespect. If I have to go, I have to go, and it's not always okay to hold it, it can cause permanent kidney and bladder damage as well as cause infections and more serious problems down the road.
I can understand that teachers do need to make sure that their students aren't just going to the "bathroom" to skip out on class, but I think they also need to understand we're kids, Sometimes we have to go a lot, and sometimes we don't. Those situations made me realize that people also have to earn my respect and just because they're an authority figure at that moment, it doesn't automatically grant them the right to walk all over me and be disrespectful. 
I've learned a ton about respect from that situation and many to follow, but they all made me think about the other person, and what if I was in their shoes. How would I feel? Did I know the whole story? It made me a more caring, and understanding individual, and showed me how to give respect as well as how to make others earn it.