Misinformation.

Today I got an email from Dad. It went along the lines of don't use your mobile phone when its plugged in to the charger, it could explode and kill you.

Obviously the email sounded so frightening, it had to be forwarded because hey, with all that shit out there, you never know what might kill you tomorrow.

Now, I normally hate people who send such stuff because they spread misinformation, but it's my dad and he did it out of concern. But it really raised a few questions in my mind.

1) How is it that something you have never seen or heard happening to anyone could even be misconstrued as truth just because of an email?

Have you ever seen or heard of anyone killed by an exploding handphone plugged into the charger? I did some research and apparently there was one isolated case in India back in 2004, but that could have very well been because his phone was a crap job anyway. It's India. With the statistic of one death in what is probably a few billion cellphone uses, I would say the fatality rate is even worse than being killed by a random lightning bolt out of the sky. So since we don't even think of that happening to ourselves, why should this even be a problem? And while we're at it, why not talk about how current flowing into your computer might kill you while you're using it, or maybe your hair dryer as well. Do you even realise its the same voltage, and you never use a hair dryer unless its plugged in?

 One of these will kill you tomorrow. Cue Final Destination music.

2) Why are people so ready to spread fear and misinformation?

Why is it that people are so quick to press forward to spread fear and panic through their mailboxes without bothering to check if what is being sent is true in the first place. And I really find that so many people do this nowadays. People fear what they don't understand, and because they can't be bothered to take a few extra steps to read up and understand it, they choose to be fearful and spread that fear. I guess I'm lucky in a sense because I'm so skeptical I don't buy anything unless I do my own research first, but the amount of panic that is caused by lazy people sometimes is really unnecessary.

Spot the weapon of mass destruction. Clue: It isn't the one on the left.

3) Who the hell is still forwarding those stupid emails about how if you don't forward this to 10 people you will die tomorrow?

I have never forwarded a single one of those. I'm still alive. However, the people who forward those have been placed in my block list and are dead to me. So you know what, maybe it is actually forwarding those emails to people that gets you killed in social circles.

How giant bureaucracies hand out awards.

Having been writing a few choice profiles about said subject, I have gathered that there are three categories of award winners in giant bureaucracies.

The first category would be people who have worked at a giant bureaucracy for donkey years and have yet to win any award. So, to reward them for their long service and to show them that they have indeed made more of a mark to the organisation than that ageless coffee stain on the desk, they get an award. Such profiles are generally quite easy to write because though they may not have the most stellar of profiles, after working so long they must have something to write about. "He took responsibility of the pantry for thirty years, always making sure that the coffee machine was working. Because of his dedication we never had to drink stale coffee. He kept us all awake. You are a valued employee John (not his real name)."

If not, I can always write about their long service, dedication, competency (after all if you've been doing the same thing for 30 years you'd better be damn good at it), and how they have inspired generations of employees after them. Here is where the stories about how so-and-so is like a father figure, warm and motherly (notice all the geriatric references) come in. It is the organisation's way of saying you are old and creaky and you have stayed here so long your name is now synonymous with certain company practices and in-jokes. In other words, when people mention your name and laugh, at least you know all the people who are laughing are your colleagues, because no one else would get it. Congratulations.

The second category would be the people who actually deserve it. There are always such people around, they are the reason why awards were created. And I actually enjoy writing profiles about these people, because they inspire even a cynical person like me. Most of the people in this category are actually quite extraordinary, in that they love what they do and they do it well. I don't really have much to write about this category because they deserve it. So yes, moving along.

The last category is the category I hate writing about the most. This category consists of the fast-tracked people, who in my opinion don't actually deserve the award, but they are getting it anyway to pad their resumes so they can rise faster and higher into the clouds. These are the people whose most likely accomplishments would go along the lines of "Led so-and-so team to clinching so-and-so award" (an euphemism for eye-power and not actually having done any of the groundwork), or constantly performing over and above expectations at their job scope. (I don't really get this part sometimes, because if they constantly perform over and above expectations, is it a case of them being good, or your expectations being set too low?)

For this category, sometimes their justification writeups for the awards are understandably skimpy, because let's face it, they haven't really done anything that substantial, they are just high-fliers who need the award to distinguish themselves in intricate power plays to the top. So they take the generic route of "does his job really well, a great leader who shows initiative and motivates his employees and so on."

To me, that has the same effect as this. "I deserve this award, because I value add to my organisation. While others choose to sweep the floor in left-right motions, I do it better because I sweep it in concentric circles, which is more thorough. I even inspired all my fellow colleagues in this new initiative, to sweep in concentric circles, which led us to win an award for innovation." No one ever mentions that it doesn't matter whether you sweep from left to right or in circles, the floor doesn't really get that much cleaner.

They can't pay me soon enough for having to write such shit.

The disinterested generation

"So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time"

I was clearing up the contacts on my phone the other day and I realised that a lot of the folks that I have belong to the disinterested generation. In the past, when someone talked to you, if you didn't reply it was actually plain rude. I guess it was partly because it was really kind of hard to reach a person in those olden days, so when a person actually made a real attempt to reach you by phone, mail or by meeting you in person, you had to give some kind of reply to show that you appreciated the effort.

Fast forward to today. Now, it is nearly impossible not to reach someone. There is the phone, sms, email, facebook and twitter, and yet I would easily say people are a lot less appreciative of contact these days. They even take it for granted. These days, when I ask people how they are, I get ignored. After awhile, I stop asking. Then I proceed to delete this person from my phone, and I forget about this person entirely. And I make new friends.

I've heard all the excuses, that people are very busy these days, that they have short attention spans, that they had a lot on their minds. To me these are excuses. If you have ever been ignored despite having the best of intentions, you will know how much it hurts. You would not wish something like that on your family, or your close friends. And if someone you considered a close friend were to hurt you like that, cut them loose immediately. It is the surest sign that in their lives, you are taken for granted. Nobody enjoys that feeling, so why give them that privilege?

I had a person I once considered a close friend promise to lunch with me, before standing me up and blaming me for not understanding her circumstances. This after making me wait an hour for lunch and cancelling all my other lunch appointments just for her, which effectively meant that I had to lunch alone and in a rush too. And when you work, you will understand just how precious the lunch hour is. And that was the second time. The first time, I forgave. The second time, I decided to be kinder to myself.

I have not spoken to her since, and I do not ever intend to again. You could say it is about being the bigger person, but it is also about being fair to yourself.

Yes, I cut people out of my life. If you are somebody who has not contacted me in the past year, chances are I don't store your number anymore. And I don't find that I miss these contacts, because in the first place our friendship had reached the point where I was being taken for granted, and that is never healthy for any friendship. Such friends are not people you can rely on, they are only friends with you when they need you, otherwise you are just another person. And in any case, it is so easy to reach anyone these days, I don't even need their phone numbers. All I have to do, if I really want to, is to find them on facebook or email them. Or I ask someone else.

It does not mean I don't engage these people when they do contact me, it just means that I keep more of my energy for other people who deserve my attention more than they do. I guess a part of growing up is accepting that as time passes people change, some people move out of your lives and others come in to take their place. Even those you want to keep as friends, because sometimes they don't even try. And there is nothing much you can do about that, but to accept it and move on.
 
This has also taught me to really appreciate the friends that have stayed. A friend recently asked me how I can just do it, just cut people out so casually. I tell them its simple, most of the time, the ones who deserve to be cut out are practically begging for you to do so. But the ones that stay, they are the ones that you can build fulfilling friendships around, to make you a better person.