the wordeater: December 2006

Saturday, December 30, 2006

food trip

At the national sports grill...

more pictures

Thursday, December 28, 2006

“Ts…”

Ts is a trite expression which puts across an air of slight aversion over a certain situation, thought, act or person. Sometimes, it hurls a low-key mockery of sorts mingled with good-humored banter, or a simple stifled snigger.

Examples. Having lousy internet connection just when you have some time to spare for non-work related surfing: “Ts…” (translation: Kainis!). The sight of a president wearing a cut-and-paste smile (which is more of a smirk) through her Christmas message: “Ts…” (translation: President? We actually have one?). Catching someone whom you thought was stiff and serious dancing away in oblivion: “Ts…” (translation: in between sniggers and under your breath—“hmmm…ganyan ka pala ah…”).

Ts-day describes a day in the life of an everyman we shall call Morrie (a take-off from the bestseller, Tuesdays with Morrie, in a deliberate but vain attempt to eliminate your inattention).

It was a fine Thursday morning. Morrie set out to renew his passport which was due to expire on the second quarter of 2007. The day before, he had his picture taken thinking it will save him time when he submits the requirements the following day. He accomplished the application form he downloaded and went straight to the government agency thinking it will only take less than an hour to finish what he came there for.

The line was not at all heavy. Morrie was confident that everything will be a breeze. Perhaps because most people were on holiday, so until this point, it was still going pretty well for Morrie.

Until at the first stop, two malevolent creatures sprung up: sorry kid, your picture ain’t good. Morrie argued, it's the standard passport picture excuse me. Morrie tried asserting himself, only to receive an empty threat (realizing it was an empty threat made everything worse, that Morrie was browbeaten anyway): kid, don’t push it…and they did not put a validation stamp on the picture. Morrie tried to find someone who could answer to him and insist that there was no problem in using the picture he had himself taken the previous day. To his dismay, everyone in this little bureau seemed to be in connivance. Morrie yielded and had his picture taken in an express booth (parked right inside the bureau gates) labeled as a government cooperative, which did not even issue an official receipt for a passport ID picture which cost more than twice the price of other photo shops.

The completely irritating thing (thus a “Ts” moment) about this situation was not so much about having to pay twice the price for a picture which should have been accepted in the first place but was purposely and scheming-ly rejected to make these people have their pictures taken in the so-called government cooperative booth. Thing is, these people deviously use misinformation to their advantage at the expense of the same people who are essentially the source of the wages they receive. Darn.

Requirements

Click and you will find clearly stated under the requirements: Three (3) copies 4.5 cm x 3.5 cm new photos (colored with plain white background). Photo should show applicants in decent attire with collar.

4.5 cm x 3.5 cm new photos
4.5 cm x 3.5 cm new photos
4.5 cm x 3.5 cm new photos

Not anywhere was it stated that the face should occupy 90% of the frame. Yet they insisted that the standard photo should be more close-up. But they failed, or they deliberately failed, to inform the poor applicants that such specific ruling was in place. Darn.

The ID picture was just a part of Morrie’s Ts-day. There were other irritating entities strewn in that agency which completed Ts-day with Morrie: the pompous lady-guard who barked on people as though they were her minions, obviously ignorant that the people she was barking on were mostly professionals who deserved better and more courteous people to assist them.

It was a terrible thought after Ts-day for Morrie, having been convinced that this country’s heading for the dumps. He ceased to wonder and stopped wrestling with his idealisms. While he could not cast all the blame on people in government service for their notoriously famous lousy service (although not all people in government should be labeled as such)—defending their inefficient and inadequate service with an apparent under-compensation etc.—he realized a lot of Filipinos have ceased from taking the initiative to better themselves, despite dreadfully disappointing realities.

Ts. What a sorry loss.

Even more disturbing were the afterthoughts which stirred Morrie’s head after his Ts-day. It’s devastating, getting caught in a limbo of cynicism and social apathy.

Ts.
Ts.
Ts.
Ts.

nohari window

for those who dare face their dark side hehe...

Arena

(known to self and others)

timid, insecure, overdramatic, predictable

Blind Spot

(known only to others)

violent, glum, simple, lethargic, withdrawn, unhappy, needy, unimaginative, inane, ignorant, distant, childish, impatient, weak, embarrassed, panicky, passive

Façade

(known only to self)

cynical, dull

Unknown

(known to nobody)

incompetent, intolerant, inflexible, cowardly, aloof, stupid, irresponsible, vulgar, hostile, selfish, unhelpful, brash, cruel, irrational, boastful, blasé, imperceptive, chaotic, loud, vacuous, unethical, insensitive, self-satisfied, smug, rash, dispassionate, callous, inattentive, unreliable, cold, foolish, humourless

Dominant Traits

62% of people agree that meancb is timid

All Percentages

incompetent (0%) intolerant (0%) inflexible (0%) timid (62%) cowardly (0%) violent (12%) aloof (0%) glum (37%) stupid (0%) simple (50%) insecure (37%) irresponsible (0%) vulgar (0%) lethargic (25%) withdrawn (25%) hostile (0%) selfish (0%) unhappy (37%) unhelpful (0%) cynical (0%) needy (25%) unimaginative (12%) inane (12%) brash (0%) cruel (0%) ignorant (12%) irrational (0%) distant (12%) childish (25%) boastful (0%) blasé (0%) imperceptive (0%) chaotic (0%) impatient (12%) weak (25%) embarrassed (12%) loud (0%) vacuous (0%) panicky (37%) unethical (0%) insensitive (0%) self-satisfied (0%) passive (12%) smug (0%) rash (0%) dispassionate (0%) overdramatic (37%) dull (0%) predictable (12%) callous (0%) inattentive (0%) unreliable (0%) cold (0%) foolish (0%) humourless (0%)

Created by the Nohari Window on 28.12.2006, using data from 8 respondents.
You can make your own Nohari Window, or view meancb's full data.

johari window

here's something recovered from the archives, hehe...

there seems to be something wrong with the window, is it just the moonlighter or what?! the arena and facade quadrants were a null set...hmmmmmm....too much in the unkown and blindspot...

Arena

(known to self and others)

Blind Spot

(known only to others)

able, accepting, caring, cheerful, clever, confident, dependable, dignified, friendly, giving, helpful, idealistic, intelligent, introverted, kind, knowledgeable, logical, loving, mature, modest, organised, patient, powerful, quiet, reflective, religious, searching, sensible, sentimental, shy, silly, sympathetic, trustworthy, warm, wise

Façade

(known only to self)

Unknown

(known to nobody)

adaptable, bold, brave, calm, complex, energetic, extroverted, happy, independent, ingenious, nervous, observant, proud, relaxed, responsive, self-assertive, self-conscious, spontaneous, tense, witty

Dominant Traits

62% of people think that meancb is intelligent

All Percentages

able (12%) accepting (6%) adaptable (0%) bold (0%) brave (0%) calm (0%) caring (37%) cheerful (6%) clever (6%) complex (0%) confident (6%) dependable (31%) dignified (6%) energetic (0%) extroverted (0%) friendly (6%) giving (6%) happy (0%) helpful (18%) idealistic (31%) independent (0%) ingenious (0%) intelligent (62%) introverted (6%) kind (25%) knowledgeable (31%) logical (6%) loving (25%) mature (12%) modest (12%) nervous (0%) observant (0%) organised (25%) patient (18%) powerful (6%) proud (0%) quiet (6%) reflective (31%) relaxed (0%) religious (12%) responsive (0%) searching (12%) self-assertive (0%) self-conscious (0%) sensible (6%) sentimental (18%) shy (6%) silly (6%) spontaneous (0%) sympathetic (12%) tense (0%) trustworthy (37%) warm (12%) wise (25%) witty (0%)