Choices

I was just reading Gutterflower's latest post, and it reminded me about something i've been thinking of lately. It's a concept that's hard to explain, but it involves choices, space, personal idiosyncrasies, personalities, social groups, religions, age and basically everything else that makes each of us so very different to the other. See, of late I've noticed that a lot of Sri Lankan people are interested in, and have an opinion on, the general subject of "others". This involves the clothes other people wear, the food they eat, the places they go, the choices they make, and so on. I mean, it is inherent in our blood and beings that we are born gossips. But, sometimes it goes a little too far. For instance, have you ever come across the term "socialites" in Sri Lanka? It generally refers to young metrosexual guys and girls who are usually dressed to kill, party all the time and act in a more "western" fashion than you'd expect from the average Sri Lankan teen (ASLT). Ok they are different from ASLTs, but I've come across many people who don't like partying and that sort of lifestyle but say "oh I'm not a socialite, i don't need to act like that". See, that's the thing that irks me. If it's not your thing, don't judge people who might like such stuff. Just say it's not your kind of thing and move on. This applies to almost everything back home. I've heard Stigmata being branded as "wannabe's" just cause they dress differently and look strange. But they are the best fucking metal band in town! So if metal and that sort of lifestyle is not your thing, hate the game, don't hate the player! Even if a person chooses to wear a short skirt, or to listen to Brittney Spears, or to get married at 16, or to walk with their hands, or chooses to do anything else that might be different to your interests, try and understand that everyone is different and no two people are alike. You may have your own beliefs, but the next person to you is not a bad person just because he/she has their own! One of the reasons people love to live abroad rather than in Sri Lanka is that, when abroad, no one gives a damn about what you do. In Sri Lanka, we make it a point to make everyone elses life our own responsibility. People were born to be different. Live and let live! After all, you wouldn't want people passing judgement on the way you live your life, right? We're all but oil and water. Oil and water.

Can I see some ID please?

Ok, so I have this issue that keeps bugging me now and again, more so out here in Singa-land. See, I'm in my mid-twenties, having turned 18 a little after the y2k season. But people keep thinking I'm around 20 years old, and, while that would've been great if I had been a girl, I'm not sure that's such a great compliment for a guy. Is it? See, while I was in Sri Lanka I was working for this professional services firm and I had to go brief a client on a few internal issues we suspected they were having. Ok, I admit I had unruly hair at the time, but this director I was briefing looked as interested as my grandma's interest in Incubus. Then she chucked some papers at me and said "talk to me when your manager gets here". The fucking nerve! Obviously she thought I was a kid and was not about ready to take advice from such a vicious breed. Now, out here in Singapore on my first night out clubbing I was asked for identification by the bouncers cause apparently I didn't look 18! WTF? The only identification I had on me that had my date of birth was my Sri Lankan ID so I had to pull that out and show the "1984" bit (as everything is in Sinhala) to convince em i'm not as young as they think. Thanks, but not thanks. It's become so bad that it's become a bit of an inside joke amongst my friends here, and whenever I meet someone new my friends ask that person "so how old do you think Confab is?" The answers have ranged from 17 all through 23, but never friggin 24! So tell me ... ...do I not look 24 to you?