How do you know you've been watching too much Amazing Race? In a Hyperion QIQ training the instructor mentioned ESM and you immediately thought: Eat, Sleep, and Mingle.

Speaking of the devil, the finale was very well edited -- what else should you expect from an Emmy-winning team -- and boy were the last 15 mins exciting! The outcome could've been decided by better means, though. I mean, come on! Uch and J happened to have a driver who happened to ask for directions in Spanish.

(For the record, the aforementioned ESM actually stands for Editable Source Master.)

Lately, unrelated things have popped up and reminded me how difficult it is for us to accept differences. The convenient anonymousness that the Net has to offer does little to help. Fingers tend to be looser and faster than mouths. Tempers flare easily. Feelings of superiority all around, holier-than-thou attitudes abundant.

It's always been easy to dismiss others' opinions constrasting to us. It's even easier now that we have Google at our disposal. People can find anything they want. Or rather, anything they want to hear -- read, pardon me. If articles are against your teams/views/beliefs, they're hoaxes and trash. If rules are inconvenient, they don't apply to you.

Oh, sure, some people are quick in adding, "but I said it nicely. Unlike some others." Or, "well, gee, I thought Timbuktu was in Africa?" To me, insults are still as insulting, offenses are still as offending, no matter how many CMIIWs or YMMVs or IMHOs or "just my two cents"s you throw in. Frankly, nowdays these expressions have been thrown around like nobody's business, to the point where they're not even worth a dime a sack.

(Dude! Your GF is ugly as a knocked-out duck! But YMMV, of course.)

When you agree to disagree, act accordingly. Fine, you're sure you're right and they're wrong. Fine, unlike you, they don't know what they're yapping about. There's always a point where you can take a deep breath, step back, and be like, OK, this ain't goin' nowhere, I'm bailin' out -- and feel good about it.

Not gonna be easy. Almost inhuman, in fact, to hear bad things only to smile a saintly smile and not feel the urge to bark back. Well, a session or two of barking -- and rolling, if you will -- contest might be good for our health. Just don't go overboard, for the sake of everyone.

Especially if you don't know how to swim.

Current music: John Kuek - Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Current mood: happy