Think... my friend, think!

Thinking, especially outside the box, and no matter what folks say about it, it has more pros than cons. In fact, no habit or trend is as resourceful as it can be, provided it is the first thing you do before acting, rather than waiting until everything is so messed up.

If you ask me, no matter how complex a process it may seem, if you make it a familiar territory, it can be a very pleasant pastime. Without it, let your brain be a transmitter, but believe me, it wouldn’t even be able to pick up GRTS. lol

Stand up to your bully...

Once upon a time in Armitage, school chores of some days of the weekends used to be a green leaves' thing, supervised by the sophomores whilst the seniors chill out. So there was this second-year bully that I had a spat with; actually he wanted me to be giving him some of my provisions and I refused, so I became an unfortunate subject of his fleeting authority.

Invariably, and unless I am able get a medical card from the clinic and give myself a few days ED (exemption for duty), this guy will have me do all the toilets of our dormitory (Saloum Kunda), and I wouldn't dare talk lest my mouth will put me into more trouble. One day I got so pissed, and apparently some of my boys felt for me, so we stood up to the fool, and the rest from then on became history.

What I am trying to say is that it doesn't matter who and how strong you think your bully is. Sometimes you just gotta stop running or trying to please him and be a little aggressive. You know, don't wait for him to bring the game to you; take it to him or get bullied the rest of your days, it's your call. In fact the message you're sending him may be gotten sooner than you think, and who knows, y'all can end up being friends like me an my Armitage bully now are.

When news is given to arouse despair...

Beware of that friend that keeps giving you updates on how prosperous, fortunate and happy your contemporaries are; like the cars they drive, the houses they own, the positions they hold, the trips they are having, etc. especially in relation to your slower but sure scale of progress.

Mostly, the aim is to make you feel somewhat resentful for those people's perceived advantage. But ask yourself, what good is happening in that person's own life? I bet he doesn't even own a bicycle; probably as broke and useless as a broken toy. Sometimes you wonder why they tend to set their own priorities too low.

I think there's a part of such people that maliciously enjoys arousing unneeded despair in others, and I am sure you're not gonna allow them do that to you, are you? But even if you think you have wasted a lot of your time losing, remember this: “To create more positive results in your life, replace ‘if only’ with ‘next time’.”

We all hate - we're all hated...

Sometimes you’re found unbearable for doing the wrong thing, and sometimes for doing what is right. At times folks won’t be able to stand you for stopping them from doing the wrong thing. Sometimes you’re detested for doing the wrong thing for all the right reasons, or the right thing for wrong reasons. Sometimes folks will express dislike just to piss you off, or maybe you've become an object of hatred for being an embodiment of artificial stupidity. Other times you’re unloved for your lack of consideration for other people.

Technically, everyone is in a way a hater and a victim. Myself, I express dislike, especially when I see others engaging in the same behaviour they condemn others for. I don’t like those who belittle others just to bring them to low esteem, and I can’t stand those whose state of mind and conformity has turned them into being bitches for society, like they were not in attendance when God was allocating the gift of freewill.

So a hater is not limited to someone who cannot be happy for another person's success. If you ask me, before you lay blame on people for not liking you, check your ways and see if what you’re being hated for is not hate-worthy, knowing that there is a very small difference between hating an individual and expressing a sincere dislike for what that individual does. But if others hate you for no good reasons, chances are you are an object of envious feelings, but tell you what, fuck their feelings and emancipate yourself from the captivity of their negativity.

Facebook prophetic/quiz apps...

So meaww.com said this guy that I know that is 24 Bututs short of ‘Taransu’ is going to be a best-selling author this 2016? I know miracles happen and people change and I am not trying to be a cynic but, really, knowing this dude, I was like, JEHH! Imagine someone who, just like yesterday at recruitment exams copied some other candidate’s script until he copied the name of that candidate.

But this is why whatever these Facebook prophetic/quiz apps are selling, I am not buying, especially not from "meaww.com." But then "meaw" is the dated form of "meow," meaning the cry of a cat, and also in Wolof, it is said in reply to a lying remark. Anyway, since I am not a party-pooper and it is free entertainment, have fun. Just don’t get too excited about the actuality of what you see.

The hymen is not the enemy...

Look, your wedding ritual is your wedding ritual. I don’t care if you require proof of virginity prior to marriage, and how I feel about the violation of the right of the woman to her privacy and dignity thereof is another topic, but I just want to say that chastity before marriage being beyond reproach doesn’t mean the woman will make a faithful wife. I have seen bad girls become good wives, just as good girls gone terrible, and being free from the latter is a lot more difficult.

Sometimes we fail to understand that the hymen, found torn or in one piece can only lead to assumptions. Especially now that there are discoveries that can help restore vaginal elasticity without surgery. Doing this piece, I Google’d and found out that the “Hymen Shop” sells artificial hymen for only $29.95.

But even if we succeed in having credible evidence that a certain lady had dropped her pants for at least all the men of the Republic of China, and succeed in bringing dishonour to her family, would it mean she cannot make a great wife? Why is it so hard for us to accept the fact that people can change after learning their lessons? Weren’t we told that the Kaaba​that is today the centre of Islam's most sacred place was surrounded by 360 idols?

I don’t know about y’all, but me, my rule is simple. I am not, and I don’t intend to be a virginity enforcement officer. What I do in the bedroom will remain in confidence. In fact, I pray to God for enough dough before marriage, so I can just check out of your cultural pornography, go somewhere peaceful and honey my moon.

Faultfinding...

If a mechanic has bills to pay and there are no cars to fix and cash in on, he will invent a major overhaul out of a minor regular maintenance. Same way, if a faultfinder runs out of faults to find, he will create faults to find.

Here, faultfinding is the reason why our "Validation Workshops" are filled with chaos, and perhaps why a lot of us are not very motivated to showcase creativity, because in the end, appreciating the time, energy and thought we put into our works will be overtaken by society's thing for harping on every little error in everything. Sometimes it feels like everyone wants everyone to do it right, but at the same time everyone looking forward to everyone doing it wrong.

If you ask me, if something sucks, say it's wack. But let there be sincerity in the judgement you pass, and before you wrap up, give some encouragement too. Tell the person that not doing it all right this time doesn’t mean it can't be done right. Sometimes we need to understand that even the professional is only human, and has a tendency to make mistakes like everyone.

Insolence is not ladylike...

If you go to your favourite store and have to hang in there against your will, waiting for this group of young ladies to stop 'chapi-chapying' all over the place, like they're buying up the entire store, when only one of them is buying a lipstick. And apart from the one buying, the rest are as ugly as they shouldn't have left their houses for their own good.

In fact, isn't it ironic that beautiful and cultured women that could've held too high an opinion of their refinement are instead under the guidance of good judgment? But that's because according to me, ninety-three percent of what makes a lady beautiful is manifested in attitude, posture, bearing, and even tone of voice.

Maybe some folks don't realise this, but once your public behaviour is impressive, you'll naturally be attractive, and that's goodwill right there. I believe that's the reason why today, most employers have made comportment or deportment a recruitment criterion. Some will even check up on your life on social media.

See, without overstatement, it is an established fact that women are God's masterpiece, and that's how they should be treated, but dignified and endearing treatment has to be earned and not just given like that. If you ask me, insolence sucks, and behaving in a slutty manner may be very inviting, but not ladylike. I thought I should say this.

Seperate yourself from gossip and idle talk...

If calm is what you are looking for, break up with every circle that has nothing except gossip and idle talk; one in which everyone thinks everybody's business is everyone’s business, and everyone is so into the private affairs of everyone that no one watches over their own affairs; one in which anyone with an opinion that is contrary to common opinion is accused of being a hater; that circle in which everyone knows someone who does something that everyone does yet pretend to hate, like everyone secretly complaining about things that they pretend to love.

If you ask me, you don’t want to be in the midst of people you call friends and be nervous to unburden you heart, simply because attitudes are so aggressively negative that all what they can offer is to call your attention to the worst of your situation. You don’t want to be a part of a circle that tends to feel better by hurting you; a circle in which the only emergency that can dictate priorities and actions is when there is a scandal involving you or someone else.

If you cannot get out of this circle, then be different. Sometimes just be at home and be happy with your own company, even if you are going to be called a freak, loner, weirdo or whatever. Do your thing in silence and let the loudmouths go about making noise. Be a part of the few whose principles will differ; the few who will prefer to be left the hell alone. You will be hated without good reason, that’s a given, but do you even need to validate your existence with what someone else thinks of you, and when you have real problems and not petty inconveniences to worry about? Just what i thought!

Sabr (patience) over retaliation...

If you suck at speaking in a clear and effective manner, avoid a verbal dispute with someone that is fluently persuasive, and even so if he has a very flexible relationship with the truth. If you feel screwed and you can take sabr (patience) and move on without causing a scene, do just that. If not, he will cook a better story to tell, and everything he says will be held against your unintelligible claims, and you'll be in there hissing and whistling like:

"Say'tettet / Mtcheew / Subhanalla / Hey / Ki mor muna dool / Chaapanz!"

But who's going to believe you there and then? In fact, you'll be even more disheartened if he has someone to validate his story, someone who very probably was dying to bring about your downfall.

So, no matter how unfortunate a circumstance you're beset with, no matter how difficult or impossible overcoming it may seem, just remain in your cool and take comfort in knowing that given time, facts will emerge no matter how someone might try to conceal them. Your job is to have faith in God's justice system and He will provide an appropriate agent to vindicate you in a manner that will be so beautiful to watch.

Semester du moromi nitt...

My boy said his boy said: "Semester du moromi nitt." (the holidaymaker is like no regular person). He said: "Here, driving a nice car, or wearing bling and looking like you've just disembarked is a ticket to a class of its own," then he said: "December du moromi ben werr" (December, meaning the holiday period in The Gambia is like no ordinary month). At first I thought he sounded resentful of the perceived advantage, but having observed things myself, from mid December through January this year, I think he has a point.

I remember my boy Skinny was once said to be indecent simply because of his dreadlocks. Today however, that same dread, resembling Maxi Priest's is said to be amazing because Skinny now lives in Germany. Spoonhead was once snubbed by his dad for having his girl come to visit him at home, but that was before he went overseas. December last month, he wasn't only bringing a girl, he comes home with girls and evidently hits 'em off, but apparently these things are haram only when you're not a been-to, or when the other party to the visit is not a Toubab.

Paco said he was surprised at the pleasantness of those elders that used to be so religiously judgemental towards him before he traveled. Today, he said even his dad that bossily wakes everyone up for Fajr spares him, because he needs to relax. Pa Ous said he's observed that even though on aggregate, the physical and fiscal contributions that his brother makes towards the household are of equal or more weight to his, his is more valuable in the eyes of his parents because the foreign currency he sends, no matter the denomination is like no other thing.

The other day, Sticky got denied entry at this chill spot around Senegambia, and he said to me: "Star, see babylonian injustice; and this kind of discrimination is all over." He said: "Go to service centres, clubs, the beaches, social gatherings, or mess up in traffic and see if you'll be treated with the same clemency as the holidaymaker." But we still wonder why all these kids want to make it abroad by any means. You wonder why some of these folks from foreign that may not be as loaded as they seem prefer to have a flexible relationship with the truth.

Don't be a walk-over...

Nothing can be more satisfying than doing your thing your way, and able to look back at your past and feel great that you made it this far; than not allowing regret to have anything on your feelings.

No, perhaps even more nourishing than the above is to be able to look into the face of the nemesis and of the naysayer and say with pleasure: "Hey bitches, I made it! What the fuck y'all gon' say to me now?"

But also, nothing is more disheartening than being a walk-over. In fact, attaining personal goals is outside the reach of someone that anyone can overcome, quieten, or bring under control, because there's hardly going to be a thing that such a person will do that is not against his own will.

Relational insurance....

The most embarrassing experience you'll bring upon yourself as a man is going after a lady that is motivated to stay in her existing relationship. But I guess even in this day and age, there are fools that are yet to understand that the use of weight, money or witchcraft to influence relational matters is the most irrational approach to relational security. Men with a sense of consequence don't do that.

Wise men cultivate fidelity by being a person of care and attention, one that'll trust, elevate and cater to the heart and mind of his partner, knowing that a favourably disposed attitude cannot be bought or obtained forcefully, it is earned through an unignorable state of attachment cultivated towards oneself through persuasion, civil conduct and sometimes flattery, rather than arrogance and overbearing conduct.

I may not be a relational therapist as such but trust me, I have seen folks get so, so gutted, if you catch my drift.

SMS

Social Media Sanity (SMS) is an imaginary association of people who are sick and tired of being sick and tired of burying their heads in the sand. As imaginary HR, I was tasked to hire.

The association is in need of competent coders to help create a civil online environment. It is a single activity job description: Write a software similar in use to a duct tape. We know it won’t solve the jackassery just like that, but using it to silence some of us on here will surely make everyone feel good, and that's the goal. Let's do this! And you're duct taped if you think this piece is about you.

Note to self...

If a part of you strongly suspect that you can do it, you can do it, even if it is something that you fear most. Henry Ford said “whether you think you can, or you think you can’t -- you're right.” So it’s your call to either decide on cheering, chanting or dancing in support of others, or decide on being like others. Whichever way you choose, that’s the direction you’ll naturally direct all your energy.

But know that in this life, you will not become a success story if you cannot challenge yourself to overcome ordinariness. You cannot even have a winning relationship if being a backup girlfriend or boyfriend is fine by you. Unfortunately this is a challenge for most of us. Granted, our culture demands that we maintain a low view of our individual importance, but it never said we should bastardise the tenet by taking servility for humility.

Stephen Richards said: “It is not enough if you just live life as it comes to you like a floating leaf in a pond. Make use of the powers bestowed in you and soar like an eagle.” So even if your belief prepares you to not despair, even though your situation is not so far from the least fulfilling, never be a bare-minimum minded person. It will take you far.

The OMG Generation...

Someone said that the American vocabulary had been reduced to just three words: Omygod, awesome and shit. But since the goodness of man in Islam is minding what concerns him, I will let that pass. However, this one that I am about to say is happening right under my own nose, and as a result my business. 

See, fillers used to be used by people with articulation problems, like those who trip over their tongue when talking. Today however, it has become a trend in The Gambia, especially among young females. But unlike typically used fillers like: uh, er, erm, etc. the average Gambian young lady will take the word “like” (el-eye-kay-ee) and drop it in between nearly every word she uses in a sentence. 

Check what I did to myself the other day that I asked one such lady about her take on the IamDavido concert. It felt like I gave her a hip-hop beat to rap to:

“Oh… wow, like, the fun part started kinda late, but like, it was really, soooo awesome. I was like, oh my God! Like, this is the best show ever. Oh my God! Mike you lost out, like big time. Guess what? You’re so not gonna want to hear this, but awww, like seriously, the guy is so cute. When I see folks say... like, they didn’t feel him, I was like, WTF? Like, what's wrong with some people?

Khew-fabulous tendency...

One life skill I acquired at sixteen was that if you're as broke as a bad joke, but still obsessed with owning things just for the heck of owing them, or if your desire to show up in every new pair of Jordans, Louis Vuitton, or every latest Nike or Adidas apparel lures you to forgo things of sufficient worth, you'll one day place your things in pawn, or go to the Black Market in Serrekunda to sell everything and still supplement your proceeds to take care of indispensable necessities.

But I ain't judging no one; the fact that I once bought a basketball with my Tobaski allowance makes my take herein a thing of attitudinal semantics. People are different; I guess there are some who are just 'khew-fabulous,' and by that I mean being concerned with flamboyant spending than working on getting an enhanced living condition. By the way, "khew" is Wolof word for anything in accordance with the latest trend, fashion or hype.

Hyphenated identities...

Why can't we for God's sake stop designating our artistically gifted people with hyphenated identities, like: Gambian-Kouthia, Gambian-Adiouza, Gambian-Lamarana Diallo, or Gambian-whatever? To be honest, I am not xenophobic, but I hate the idea of playing second fiddle to everything and everyone from overseas. It makes it feel like we cannot be unlike anything else. I am not saying be original, because I am familiar with art, and I know originality is easier said than done, but be authentic. 

I know someone is dying to ask why I accepted to be called Gambian-Air Jordan, but that’s a different thing. Michael Jordan to the game of basketball is like Revelation 1:11 of the King James Bible. lol

On a serious note, I was told that Youssou N'Dour and co started their musical career here in The Gambia. But their band was called Étoile de Dakar not Senegalese-IFANG BONDI or the Senegalese-Super Eagles, and I don’t think that’s a show of ingratitude. They perhaps decided on that name to create their own identity, and probably because Ifang Bondi that schooled them means "create/be yourself" in Mandinka. 

So if you ask me, if our stars are doing it right, we as fans must learn to appreciate them just the way they are, and set them free from debasement, and maybe someday and very soon, stars from overseas will desire quite as much to be affiliated with ours just as we desire to be theirs.

Garaw-Garawlu...

Once in a while, it is natural to have an overfed estimate of your own worth. My boys call it the “Garaw-Garawlu ” or “Star-Starlu ” tendency. It animates you; drives out every fear you may have in your ability to do what you do best. Once I was watching the Nikita TV series and the tech guy therein (Birkhoff) made a certain discovery using his gadgets, and knowing how amazing it was, he said: “If God is in the detail, then I'm a god.” Unlike folks be yelling "Astaghfirullah," I was like, yeah! That’s what's up genius!

Here that people are happy about each other’s downfall, like we are brought up to hate or pass judgment on everyone else's but ours, waiting for expressed approval of what you do is going to be the biggest disobliging act you will do to yourself, because folks will never have the decency to openly appreciate you. They'll tell you that praising yourself is like boasting, or “sabou dou fott bopam.” In fact, no matter how you try not to draw attention to yourself, you'll be accused of thinking that you're the best thing since ‘Neni Ngunja Ak Mbuss.’

For my part, I think recognising your worth or refusing to be satisfied with mediocrity is a thing of ego, but a constructive one, and constructive ego can lead to gratefulness, and gratefulness to godliness; so go on your ego-trip. Just don’t blow it to the point of creating a sense of division between you and the rest of humankind, because your ownership or tenure of that thing that is motivating your sense of superiority may not last.

Personally, I fly my own kite when it's necessary, but anytime I am afforded to call the shots, and I feel overly obsessed with that (supposed) importance, I know my ego is getting way too huge. So I try to remind myself that no matter what, I will always be Omar, son of Tida Sonko of blessed memory; that wonderful woman of moderate behaviour. And before I know it, that huge opinion that I was almost about to have of myself will sink, and my humility will be restored.

Knowledge...

Knowledge, as in general understanding or familiarity is a double pointed experience. The first prong is the knowledge of knowing your worth, and the second prong is the knowledge of knowing you're shit. 

If you ask me, knowing your worth is best. The latter, even though not good enough, is at least sincere and teachable. But not knowing shit, or being full of it, and not knowing how shitty you are is not only a condition of being uninformed, it is the shittiest form of ignorance.

About meetings...

If you come to a meeting and don't have anything to say, remain in your cool and allow adjournment to take due effect. Wanting to say something so badly just because everyone's saying something may lure you into saying just anything, or cause you to go off the tracks.

There are some who will pick on others in an attempt to flex muscle or intellect that they do not have within them, and in the end, the meeting will go on the loose, because the idiot is incurring reproach. But Kellee Maize said: "If you don’t start none, then there won’t be none... when you make your hell then you cannot run."

It's just unfortunate that some of us tend to discount the fact that in this 'dunia' (world) that none is perfect, everyone knows or has a little something on someone that he or she chooses to be mute about, in the name of holding the information in secret (sutura). But remember that keeping the secret a secret is just a thing of choice.

Turn on your potentials while you can....

Sometimes you wonder why people with too much potentials to succeed in life tend to screw everything up. Sometimes it appears as if those who want it so badly don't get it, and those who have it act like they don't need it. Crazy shit, right? I know; been there, done that, is probably the reason why I am not PhD today. But I guess John Milton was right when he said that "the mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven."

Growing up, you have so much time on your hands that you spend a considerable amount of it on inconsiderable things, like that foolish hunt for street credibility. You want to belong so fast that you forget that there are smarter ways of getting there, until that life you think you're leading ends up playing you. Personally, I am just so glad that I am speaking in the past tense, because it's a sign of survival.

If you're reading this and by God you're young enough to change the way you live, ask yourself if your survival is guaranteed. If not, start getting your act together; take advantage of the piece of good life you have, no matter how boring you think it is, because the saddest thing you wouldn't want to inflict on yourself is to sit in your tomorrow's moments blaming Obama from afar, or harping on what you might have been if you had played your cards right.

Small thief, big thieves...

As lacking respect as begging may be, it is more honourable than borrowing something and not intending to return it, or asking for something in exchange for influence or as an inducement to do what you're paid to do.

Unfortunately, our society has succeeded in making the unlawful so lawful that the crime of stealing is confined to the act of entering someone else's premises with the intent to steal, and even that, the severity of the repercussion depends on the doer's family standing and likeability.

Thanks to ignorance, poverty or perhaps selfishness, society doesn't even bother to make earnest inquisition as to finding out how wantonly the wealth of the ordinary person is being devoured by those paid to serve them. The way we see it, those greases to the palms are sweets that come with the jobs they do, and we will be jealous to say it is unlawful. How poetic!?

Fools don't learn...

They say a little learning is a dangerous thing, and that's so true. It can cause you to think you're more than you really are. But the fool will rather blind his own eyes, pretending to have everything figured out, even if his failings afford him the opportunity to learn quite as much from his weaknesses as from his strengths, and that's because the foolish spirit is unteachable.

Every single one of us, as well as our individual conditions are products of the decisions we made in the past, but whether we should be restrained within the bounds of those decisions is a thing of basic intelligence. Show me a product of good decisions and I will show you an intelligent person, like I will show you a fool when you show me a product of ceaseless fuckups, one who will never learn from his mistakes even after donkey's years, much less from the mistakes of those before him.

So if you ask me, don't be a fool. Be teachable and learn from your mistakes, and even best, learn from the mistakes of those before you, it will take you far.

Hypocrisy aside, nobody wants an unenviable lifestyle...

Seriously, I admire people who can hold out, or even put on weight when everything around them is bad luck on the rise. I mean even if they're dead-ass broke and broken to the point that no one pays attention to them. I don’t know if it is only me, but to be honest, when I am really broke, like I was last Tuesday and will probably be two days before the twentieth, the first thing I do after my usual wake up yawn is a very long hiss.

Maybe I am being faithless; maybe not. Maybe nobody wants an unenviable lifestyle. Maybe those poorness pleasing sermons about people (strangely) going to heaven for their unfailing penury-endurance are but consolations. I ask myself, why is this prayer leader trying to live posh if there was so much reward in being poor? Maybe he is being untruthful, or maybe it is even more rewarding to go all-out and break out of that survival demanding situation. Maybe this piece needs a lot of ‘Istighfar’ (seeking forgiveness from God).

But who doesn’t want to be rewarded for paying the poor-due, and how can you pay that due when yours is past due? Who doesn’t want to be rewarded for strengthening the ties of kinship; but in this third millennium that you don’t even make sense if you aren’t making cents? “Spend on others, and I will spend on you” - isn’t that what they say is the Lord’s commandment for every one of His slaves? Who doesn’t want God to spend on you?

Who doesn’t want to appease the wrath of God and ease the sufferings of death by just giving charity? Don’t tell me even a smile is charity, because you’ve never seen a disheartened smile. About begging, weren’t we told that “the upper hand is better than the lower hand,”upper as in the giver and lower meaning the receiver? Now if you want, say ‘Astaghfirullah’ and judge me, or say ‘Jazarkumullah kairan’ and go and get paid, because in this life, you’re going to need stuff and everything costs money.

Life is like a march past....

Just like a march past, life will always make room for a series of “about-face” turns. As soon as the parade takes pivot and turns clockwise (180°) to the opposite direction, those in front of the line as they march past the saluting point will end up being at the back. This about-face turn is not only confined to the reputations we hold, it includes change of attitude, behaviour, and even points of view. What I am trying to say is, pleasant or distasteful, restful or awkward, as long as life is on the move, no condition is permanent, even the permanent secretaries, as they say in Nigeria. If you think I am lying, reflect on the many things that have gone down in your personal life over the years.

As long as we live, some longstanding assumptions will be refuted, new ones established. Some folks will know that you deserve better, but they will muffle your right to have better. Some peasants will develop into mighty princes, some heroes belittled, demonised or penalised, and certain villains celebrated. Except for that of the Most High, constitutions and laws will be amended or repealed, late developers will grow, some will want to be successes in works that they do not love. Some onetime brains will take the shine off their brains. Poisons of today may become exquisite delicacies of tomorrow. Certain truths will be defeated and falsehood will become a regular attribute. Times will be such that adults will try to prevent unwanted pregnancies, whilst babies are busy making babies.

Sooner or later, I will die, probably forgotten, possibly remembered by a few who find my writings animated; some will take offence in what I write because I refuse to be responsible for their understanding of me. Some will understand the portrait I am trying to paint, and others will think I am just being a know-all. History cannot be undone, but it will be rewritten to blur some memories. Some will go down for others to go up. Some will wish they had done what they could’ve done but didn’t do. Many will be called, but only a few will be chosen, and those rejected will blame others for their bad luck, and by their deeds they shall be made or broken. 

If you ask me, this rollercoaster of an observable fact will remain until everyone is dead and that believed trumpet for resurrection is blown…. Phew, what a heavily loaded piece!

Pro or Robot?

Perhaps the only difference between a professional worker and a robot is the former’s reasoning skills. Just like the professional, the robot is capable of carrying out series of tasks, but it has to be provided with coded instructions for the automatic performance of these tasks. The professional on the other hand is skilled to be able to distinguish and make choices among possible options. 

Unlike the machine, the professional knows his goals, or should I say is expected to know what his job is aimed at. So you should know you are not different from a robot if you do what you do without thought, and if you have no clue about the end in view. This unfortunately is the sad case of a lot of us that work at jobs that require a decent amount expertise. 

Maybe it is attributable to the constipation of our perception of the scope and limitation of what we are hired to do, or maybe we believe that our expert wishes, opinions and suggestions will not matter, no matter how constructive; whatever it is, the unquestioning dedication is not a promising thing, because “just do it” will eventually be the natural response to whatever we are asked to do in the course of our work

An ugly person calling others ugly is fugly...

I have observed that for the most part, it is the ugly ones that tend to feel good about themselves by enviously making others feel bad about their looks. I don’t know what personality it is, or maybe it is a way of drawing a veil over their own blemishes, but let it be known that ugliness accompanied by random hatred leads to a whole new lack of appeal. Urban Dictionary calls it “fugly,” a shorter way of saying "fucking ugly" without using bad language.

For my part, if you choose to rebel against your mirror’s advice to dress according to your shape, and you come out looking like a defect, whether cosmetic or from creation, it doesn’t matter, as long as you do not scare the hell out of my little niece, we are good. Inwardly, I may object to your swagger, but I will defend to the death your right to feel good about yourself. After all, Sheryl Crow said: "If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad."