Social media etiquette

Firstly, let me say I love technology. I love the internet, hell it's one of my oldest friends. The ability to communicate to anymore instantly, the gathering of an audience and the spread of word. But in my first ten years of using the internet, annonimity was not a thing. Yes, you stayed safe by not giving out personal information but there was a sense of moral obligation to do the right thing while online. 

Maybe I was just naive. I definitely was looking through the internet with a child's viewpoint. I mean I only started using it when I was about 8. But somehow, in the past few years I feel like a lot has changed in the moral obligation of the internet. It's become a madhouse with teens bullying each other, with crazy insensitive people and with just plain rude. I mean come on, you don't do/ say such thing in person, why the heck are you doing it online????

 I think bullying is one we're all familiar with. The number of suicides world wide that have stemmed from cyber bullying. The new thing I've noticed is people being really insensitive on social media! I've seen the person who memorialises a dear departed soul and the douche bag who comments on the status asking "babe, how he die la?". Somebody just shot this person!!! Then we can tell everyone they died of curiosity. Seriously, how is that sensitive. If you're such a good friend who deserves to know, pick up the phone, call them , express you're condolences and then enquire. Don't make it difficult for them!! 

Another thing is always about weight. I think it a sensitive enough topic for talking to in person but again, it goes nuts in social media. From the person going "you look so fat in that picture" to the person who advertises weight loss programs on a status/post that has nothing to do with weight loss, the person posting it and is completely irrelevant. I have a few words : wth is wrong with you????

I think, the same way we have social etiquette rules for eating an entree, we need social media etiquette rules. Here's my 5.

#1: THINK about what you're going to ask. Is it sensitive? Might you embarrass the person you're communicating with? Then it's time for you to use an email or private message. These tools exist for a reason. It is to be private. 

#2: Is what you're about to say hurtful? Even if you don't intend it to be hurtful, can it be hurtful? Yes? Then shut the hell up. Didn't anyone tell you that if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all. Yeah, yeah? Follow it. Preach it. Do it. 

#3 : SPELL IT. Unless you're in the 90s trying to text with a limited 160 characters," r u ok? Luv u v much" spell it out. It takes two seconds more and is rather easy. ( although I'll exempt my dad from this. He got hip a while ago so I'll take it. Parents are allowed.)

#4 : Is it very personal? Are you trying to be mushy to someone? Do you want to share a thousand picture of your baby/ puppy/ your face? Please don't. People initially think it's fine and then it pisses everybody off and we're all just to polite to tell you that nothing you post is of interest. Just don't. 

#5 : Finally, just be a nice person. Spread the love. If you think it's bad to do it in person, don't do it online. It's a cowardice act.

Also, if you can't make great judgments in real live, just stay off the internet. It's not going to be great for you. 

The fleeting sense of flight... Not.

I love airplanes. Take off scares me a little but the whole experience is quite enjoyable. I love that when you're flying over the ocean, you never quite know where the horizon is. Is it the first blue line? Is it where the clouds end? But it doesn't even matter because the sight is just gorgeous. I even enjoy that skip of heart beats when we experience sudden turbulence. I love walking around and even being a little fancy to order that glass of wine even though it cost way more than it should. 

However, my love of flying is central to one thing; my freaking ability to sleep half an hour after take off and wake up half an hour before landing. Yes, I'm one of those fortunate people to whom flying doesn't affect. 

Contrary to my usual luck, today is long and almost dreadful. Yup, I'm on a flight ( Ahh, the beauty of saving a draft) to Singapore. Safe to say, I'm so excited I can't sleep, plus it might be the middle of the day. I have two hours to go on the flight and already have: eaten lunch, two muesli bars, Pringles, cheese and crack, a cup of tea and chocolate biscuits (whattt? I was hungry) & watched monsters university, played all the games on my phone, taken a walk, read more of Anna kareina and tried to fall asleep. 

Yes, my blogging appears to be noting more than to pass time. An hour and forty minutes to landing if we're on time. 

Nevertheless,  flying is amazing. The fact that we're hovering mid air miles above the surface of the earth, is not new, but certainly still breathtaking. 

One thing I've noticed about budget carriers though ( yes I fly budget so much that I'd consider myself somewhat a budget airline connoisseur) is very few people are nice. Staff to passenger. Impatience and an air of entitlement. I mean seriously, you're flying budget and not fighting over the last piece of cheese. It just seems to allow the mean people to congregate in a plane, mid air, away civilization. Oh boy. PEOPLE NEED TO BE NICER!!!

Buses buses buses

So I'm writing this from a bus. What good is being caught in traffic if you can't whine about the system. It's week 2 of work and I'm surviving alright I think. Reading up stuff, saying stupid things, doing silly things and wondering if I'm not being a proper employee. But otherwise I'm enjoying work. The one thing  not enjoying as much is the traveling. I'm spending approximately 3 hours daily traveling back and forth. It not so bad when you know the system work. But can I let everyone in on a secret? THE BLOODY SYSTEM DOES NOT WORK!!!!! 

Ok, now with that out of my system ill start talking like an adult again. The buses never seem to be on time, the passengers are so riled and mean and nasty. Most of all the bus drivers are also so mean! I mean I have had some really friendly drivers which is great but I feel like they took job knowing they have to interact with people. so many people depend on them; to get to work, to get home, to rest, to see their families. But they just don't care. If you don't want that then find another job. I had a driver yesterday , stuck in traffic, AT the stop and not let me in. How shitty is that. 

On a side note, I'm being attacked by drosophilas at a bus stop.

Anyway, I just feel like people should make a conscious effort to be nicer. It's not a big deal. Say thank you and please.  Apologize for inconvenience. And most importantly, just freaking Smile. It cost nothing, prevents wrinkles, helps you have a better day and it might make someone else's day.😃

Okay, now I'm being attacked by a moth.

 

    

quotas in place of being fair.

Again, so much for my updating this blog every week. I keep remembering to do so which must mean that I just need some time to get into it. A little update from my last post to now; I got a freaking job! Yay! I start tomorrow and I'm quite nervous. I guess I'm just not sure what to expect, it being my first job. Its going to be interesting to wake up at 6 in the morning everyday though. Like I'm back in secondary school!

So lately I've taken a slight interest in political situation in Australia. Before I start let me just say I'm no expert by any means. But one thing kept popping up that got me thinking was all the talk about quotas. I think it started out with the new liberal cabinet in federal politics not having many women. Many pointed out that a labour cabinet would have more women because the party has a quota for the number women and that that only having 1 woman in the cabinet was a "great" sign of sexism. 

Today, watching the news, I noticed another call for having quotas for lesbian and gay politician. Now, don't get wrong, I think its incredibly important for EVERYONE to be represented and the freedom to make choices should not be limited to a particular demographic just because they are greater represented. 

Personally I dislike the idea of having quotas for anything. To me it stipulates that you don't have to have the merits for achieving something but rather being female or lesbian or gay or a polar bear will get you there. Yup, it totally will.

Growing up in Singapore, I always heard tales of ethnic quotas in the local universities. Now, I never had to face that (because I sailed the seas for my degree) and in 2012 the education minister denied any such quotas. But as a kid, the stories scared me! That you could work hard and score average grades but being of a minority ethnic group you're not going to get into university because of a quota. And that people of larger ethnic groups didn't have to even do well to get in. I found it ridiculous then and I find it ridiculous now. 

I've always worked hard to get what I want. That's what I believe. I think every position should be earned by merit. Not by where you were born, or what colour your skin is or you sexual orientation. Some might say I'm being a dreamer expecting fairness in this world but I think its the people afraid to lose their power that allow unfairness to go on. 

Back to the whole politics thing, I do agree that there is a under representation of the population in the government. With having one woman in the cabinet, I think basically the best were picked from the hand dealt which is fair. I don't believe quotas are the way to represent the population. What we're going to end up with is a group of unqualified people making great decision on behalf of a very big country.  I know its not a solution but there are more ways to include women, aboriginal people, gays and lesbians. I think more community outreach programs to develop politicians, training programs, more encouragement in general will help. Its not going to fix it overnight but many things in our life's are the changes of a generation and not a night.     

But then again, I'm no expert. Just a little person with my own understanding of the world. 

OCD,impatient or cukoo?!?!?

*I totes forgot about this post*

So much for my plan to blog every weekend. In my defence it had been a ridiculously busy weekend and week. We had a engagement part to attend on Saturday followed by a day out in the southern highlands for fathers day on the Sunday. One thing I was incredibly proud of myself was the cake I made for the engagement. I think visually, it is the best cake I've decorated. Taste wise, it was too sweet for my liking but I'm my harshest critic and I'll do better next time.

I've always known that I have the tendency to be selectively OCD. I think it really flared when I was the event coordinator at SEF. But I've not noticed it as much since moving out and since I'm such a slob my OCDness doesn't affect other parts of my life. This weekend though, with all the events on, there was this thick haze of chaos. It was essentially too many cooks in one kitchen and no proper plan. Its made me realise how much I love organization and how much I detest chaos.

I guess at the end of the day, I can only observe others to know how I can improve my organizational skills and I can just wait around and help when they need me.  

a little tale

Gosh, it's been awhile since I blogged or wrote anything (that was not a thesis). I feel like the first day of high school or college. We've done it before and deep down we know its going to be the same but the anxiety of starting new flutters , not in our stomachs nor in our heart but in the middle of the two. In this case writing something again. I wondered about just writing in my old blog again but reading those entries I feel like I'm a different person now. Not changed in a 'I've had a tragedy' but in a I don't feel that same sense of naiveness that those words previously echoed. 

I think what I'm trying to do here and now is to think about the little lessons that life is giving me. I'm a master at not thinking about what I feel and I don't want to stay the same person. I want to grow and I want to think about what I am learning now. I don't know that I'll achieve that but what I know is, I want to write and in 5 years I want to read back to these words and remember what kind of person I was. 

Crazy, loud, quiet and sane while trying to figure out what life is trying to tell me!