Okay guys, I'm back with a rant.
Before that, little update with my life. I'VE BEEN SICCCCKKKKK WITH THE DAMNED FLU. Haven't seen daylight for like 3 days now, I've been ill all week and now I'm getting these ghastly sores around my mouth just when that razor in my throat is beginning to diminish.... but anyways exam results are out and that lifted my mood by miles, so now I'm sitting on my bed looking like a lizard, but at least I'm a happy lizard :)
Actually today's rant is linked to results. Yesterday as soon as the clock hit 2pm, my Facebook inbox started to fill up with people asking me what my results were. Some of these people I haven't spoken to in years, and yet they're still so obsessive about knowing about my life lol. Even freakier, I logged onto Tumblr and 3 anons ask me about my results. I mean wtf that just freaks me out. You don't talk to me personally OR online and you expect me to tell you my results through Tumblr? Someone asked why I don't announce my results publicly if I think it's good. And my answer to you anon because I know you are reading is this: Why do you have to know? If I said I got a first, it'll make you feel bad about yourself. If I said I got a third, it induces unnecessary self pride. Most importantly, my result does not matter to you. My results, my achievements, my life. Knowing won't change anything about your life, because you cannot utilise my results for your benefit.
So right now I feel very skeptical about Facebook. Taking yesterday for example, looking at unfamiliar faces pop up on my friends list and uni acquaintances that I never speak to creeping up and liking VERY old statuses doesn't make me feel good. I think it's disgusting/freakish that you may have never have spoken to a person, but if you have their Facebook you may know up to an alarmingly large percentage of their life. Also, I think Facebook statuses in general is a prime case of peer pressure. Because let's face it. Most people only update when something good happens in their lives. When others read about things that people have done that they may never be able to do, it makes them feel awful about themselves. And it's a vicious cycle because everyone would start to only post those positive things online and create this false perfection as they lie to their friends and themselves. So really it's not really a place for friends. Because since when did friendship become as shallow as telling each other what good results they got, what expensive clothes they bought and what luxury holiday they booked themselves?
It is so much better if your friends find out how amazing of a person you are for themselves, and not for you to feed them with such information that effectively has nothing to do with them. Opportunities will come for you to wow people with your abilities, and if you don't reveal them idly beforehand it will be more amazing then. I don't know why I always attract all sorts of self proclaimed people telling me about all sorts of 'things' they've done, and it's often the case when the 'thing' they are announcing is super praise-worthy to them but quite a measly achievement for me, and all I felt is not envy but rather second hand embarrassment. My point is this: when you make an unnecessary self-praising status/statement about yourself, you create this false image for yourself in other people's minds that will be extra burden on your back because YOU will have to be the one who has to maintain your 'image'. And honestly, I have never in my life respected a person who has personally INFORMED me of what they have achieved WHEN I HAVE NOT ASKED THEM. It does not impress me, nor does it make me admire you. Rather, all I see is your revolting pride and it's the last thing on my wishlist that I would want to have.
There is a Chinese saying: '王婆卖瓜，自卖自夸', which is translated as 'Grandma Wang sells melons, praises herself as she sells'. It is used to describe a person with no special talents who tries to sell his skills by telling everyone himself how skillful he is, and is a mocking phrase used my people nowadays. In Asia and China especially, people take pride very seriously as a huge lack in personality. If you do not know how to draw the line between confidence and pride, do NOT provoke people by telling them how you've got soandso many A*s in your last exams out of context, ie when they did not ask you, ie they don't care, because chances are they did better than you, and it's certain that someone definitely did better than you. So this is why I keep my mouth SHUT, especially online when people I don't even know very well at uni can so easily stalk my page. In the words of an old friend J.M. (will not disclose name), 'life is just so much easier if you tell people you're stupid.' Save your breath for job interviews.
Peace people, if you hate this rant then click yourself out of this blog. And for goodness' sake, stay humble and keep your own info/curiosity to yourselves. Thanks.
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