The Angry Commuter

Have you ever been on public transport only to be annoyed by everyone around you? Have you ever thought "Where do all these people come from?". If you have my friend, you are not alone. Many of us here, hear you! A large number of people lack commute etiquette.  I document here some of my own experiences..

1. The Fat woman who thinks her Problems are First World Problems

So this happened to me - ONCE. I get into a bus and go right to the empty row of seats at the back. A lady boards the bus walks right past some vacant seats and seats herself right next to me. Her nails were painted in an unsightly green and they were long enough to poke me to my bone. She opens her fake jimmy choo bag, picks up her phone calls a friend and chats away with no concern for anyone sitting around her, or the privacy of her own life for that matter. Her voice was loud enough penetrate through my noise cancelling headphones! I must confess i switched the music off to listen to her conversation purely because I am nosey, but had it been a morning where i was less cheerful - she would have had it from me.

2. The lady who thinks that doing her make up on the train is acceptable

This was quite unusual to me. I have hardly used the public transportation system in my home country but I imagine it's impolite to dollyfy yourself in front of everyone? If you do NOT have the time to do your make up at home - then go to work without MAKEUP! Or do it in the Ladies Room. Not on a crowded train where people are fighting for every inch of room trying to get to work. It is just plain annoying..

3. The annoying business man who loves to read the Metro

Yes, we know they are free papers and you look educated reading them. But seriously? Buy yourself the Financial Times/Observer/What ever it is that makes your morning worthwhile. The writing on the Metro is unforgivable and i can feel the cells in my brain dying a horrible death with every word i read on the paper.

4. I really don't want to witness the conception of your child

Yes I am pleased you found the love of your life - I am truly happy for you! But please keep the rest to your bedroom. Public displays of affection are acceptable when you are a teenager.. Not when you are a 60 year old man!

5. The creepy guy who stares at you for the duration of your journey

Yes, we've all done that. We let the good looking/normal ones stare at you while pretending like you didn't even notice them. However if you are creepy - please spare the embarrassment and stop staring. You draw enough attention as it is..

6. The school kids who Eat Extra noisily on the train and leave all the paper bags and cans on the train - You might want to learn your manners at this age young man!

7. This guy who thinks it's cool to annoy everyone else with his choice of music - No i do not like punk rock just turn your volume down!

8. The man who forgets his commute entertainment and peeps into everyone else's business - Yes this person forgot that he will have a long train journey and can't get any sleep so he decides to look at what you are reading on your book/doing on your iPhone!

10. Your bag is not another person, and so does not deserve a seat

11. The lady who shouts to the rest of us to move down a crammed train

12. The man who refuses to move an inch when there is so much space inside

13. The lady who thinks its acceptable to squeeze inside a crowded train - squashing the man in front of her - I tell you they don't enjoy being squashed and nor do I by chain reaction!

14. The people who don't like to bathe

The few years just out of college

Read this somewhere and thought it sums up a collection of thoughts/conversations I've had over the past year with friends :)

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are a lot of things about yourself that you didn't know and may or may not like.

You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones.

What you do not realize is that they are realizing that too and are not really cold or catty or mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job. It is not even close to what you thought you would be doing or maybe you are looking for one and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and are scared.

You miss the comforts of college, of groups, of socializing with the same people on a constant basis. But then you realize that maybe they weren't so great after all.

You are insecure and then secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life; You feel alone and scared and confused; Suddenly change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you or you lay in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough to get to know better; All this while you had been convincing yourself that you didn't want to be tied down to any person; Now suddenly you have moments of self-doubt when you wonder if you waited too long and let someone special get away. You love someone but maybe love someone else too, and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you are not a bad person! Random hook ups start to look cheap and getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic;

You want to be independent but suddenly, the idea of having the stability of a special someone to trust and lean on doesn't seem all that bad. You want to be your own person and yet be taken care of at the same time.

You go through the same emotions and questions over and over and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision.

You worry about loans and money and the future and making a life for yourself and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender.

We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

Time flies - FACT

I stumbled upon yimings blog just now which brought back so many great memories from university.. Reading this i instantly felt wiser than i was just an year and half ago.. I miss her and all the others I met the last 2 years to a point where i would do anything just to go back to those days. It's funny how the human mind works. When i had exams and 10 papers to study for i would wish i was past all this, now i really miss the exams and the pressure that came with it.

I miss the King Edwards Road girls and all the late night drama, parties, meaningless gossip and yes in general the useful things we did that year. An eventful, successful, busy and DRAMATIC 2 years of some real experience never to be forgotten.

                                           View just outside our house in Wales - Breath Taking..

Truth - Never take things for granted and Live in the moment because this moment never comes back and you don't want regrets.

Yimings blog : http://solepeaceful.wordpress.com

Quit Early, Quit Often..

I just finished watching Prof Deepak Malhotras speech to the Graduating Class of Harvard MBAs. He mentioned 5 distinct points and backed them up with sound life experience. One thing that stuck in my mind was when he said Quit Early, Quit Often.. It's quite the contrary to what we have been told all our life. 'Never Give Up' - something my dad repeatedly chanted when i thought things were not going my way or lost confidence. 

How can you Quit and Never give up one would ask. They are two different things altogether?  I'd like to think Never Give up on Chasing your dream in the process you can quit all you want. Sounds easy right? What happens if you dont know what your dream is? What happens if you haven't figured out what you are meant to do with your life? When i was in high school i would look at all these girls who said "Oh i want to be this and that and what not" When someone asked me what i wanted to do, i would say "Oh well something that involves mathematics - that is all i know".. I didn't want to become a teacher, nor wanted to be a mathematician. I just wanted to do a subject with a significant math component. I hadn't figured out what i wanted to do then. I don't think i still have.. :S 

I can relate to a huge number of things i quit from but a significant portion of quitting, saying NO or refusing came together in June/July 2011 - The year of my graduation. More on this later.. :) 

At the end of his speech a graduate walked up to him and said "Well you say QUIT when you don't find that this is not what you want to do. It's easy when you are in your 20s to quit and do something else because you have no responsibilities and all you need to care about is your life. But as you age you have responsibilities, children, family, parents and quitting just may not be an option".. For which the professor replied that he lives a simple life. He doesn't invest in fancy things and has a whole lot of money deposited in the bank which he finds no use for. He did mention that this was the best gift he has given himself. The financial freedom to do what he wants without fearing that he will put his family in jeopardy. 

If you ask me if i will quit early or quit often - I say NO. I do not have the courage to do that now and will not do it.. But maybe some day i will.. :) 

Planking - Owling - Milking - Coneing - Harlem Shaking, Where did thinking go...

Do you remember Planking? Well just to refresh your memory, it was one of those things that went viral some time ago where people lie down on the ground, face down, in unusual places - took pictures of themselves and posted them on facebook and other social channels. People were suspended from work for doing this during work hours and people died in the process of trying to be popular.

Then came Owling. Basically this involved you sitting crouched down, again on random places staring into thin air. You take pics of yourself in this position and post it where ever the hell you want and sit by your computer counting the number of views/likes to measure your self worth.

and then Cone-ing : You buy a cone of ice Cream and eat it by holding the ice-cream, video you making a fool of yourself and yet again sit and wait for random strangers, to enjoy you enjoying your cone. :P

Promptly followed by Milking. That's right. You buy a bottle of semi-skimmed milk and pour it on yourself head first.  Brownie points for capturing the shocked or bewildered reactions of the on lookers.

So now there is the all new Harlem Shaking. I for one think that this by far beats its predecessors so I did not complain until i came across this ridiculous video of an Obese man doing the harlem shake. I mean seriously, WHAT WAS HE THINKING?

However on a more serious note, this gives reason for people who sit on their arse the entire day a chance to be active. I hear that a mouse click can burn upto 1.4 calories - which is great news for all gamers out there!

Id be happiest when the time comes for thinking. :D - Maybe i should start the trend :P

On that note, ill leave you with Nyan Cat - nyannyannyannyan. 

BBS is a BBS

'Bodhu Bala Sena' is a Bunch of Bullshit! To give you some context, BBS is an anti-muslim organisation that

This is the "Ides of March" for the muslim population in Sri Lanka just two days after the assassination of Julius Caesar by a roman cabal including Cassius and his Best Friend Brutus.


As aptly put by 

Social Etiquette

I called the Department Of Education In Sri Lanka today to clarify something about my O/L and A/L results. I needed this information for jobs/post graduate studies. The first time some person answered the phone and I politely greeted him and he didn't say anything. Then i went on to state my case and tell him why i was calling. After a few moments the call goes blank. I'm guessing he hung up. I was very cross since I was making a foreign call and the call charges are so high and he keeps the phone with no mention. After which I called again, and I think it was the same person that answered the call. I said I was calling from the UK and that this was important. He didn't say anything for a while and then asked something from another person which if I heard right was an extension number to someone else. A few seconds passed and the call goes blank again. Sigh. Now I got really tired of this but i did need the information. So I called again and this time politely greeted him in Sinhala and asked him if i can speak to him in English. For which he requested me to speak to him in Sinhala hence in my very broken Sinhala skills I asked him about how I could get the information I required. He replied which after a lot of difficulty I understood that I had to call on Monday after 9. Phew. I emphasise again here that even when i did speak to him in a language he understood his replies weren't polite and I really felt like boxing him right on his face.

I am not asking for a piece of land in my home country. However all I want is to be able to speak in a language that I understand and get things done within the governmental departments. The good thing amongst many bad things in the west is that the law at least is a little more people oriented. For instance if a certain part of the country consists mainly of people speaking French then the local post office/ other departments in that area will be able to speak and assist customers in French or a language they know. Also if you call a government service and tell them you don't understand they will try and put you through to someone who speaks a language that you do. Above all that in which ever language they speak for starters they are fairly polite. I've noticed that almost all governmental organizations in Sri Lanka ever since employs people who are unfriendly, rude and obnoxious to answer calls/handle matters. Thankfully the competition in private sectors has made them employ people who are more polite and nice to customers. Little things like saying thank you, sorry etc go a long way. A common majority of Sri Lankans especially from non-urban areas lack a lot of these simple manners. I must admit Sri Lankans are very nice people and every place I've been to in this island the people have been more than welcoming even if they don't know us. However I think something is really wrong with every person who works in departments owned by the government. Maybe they have frustrating private lives with low incomes and what not or maybe they take their future with this job secure so they no longer want to work towards making peoples lives better or maybe they just aren't mannered. I'd suggest we introduce a school subject under the name of 'Social Etiquette' in schools so people who aren't taught manners at home can at least learn at school?  and also when interviewing people for customer facing roles they might want to employ someone with more peoples skills?