Are You Sure You Are Not Hated For That?

When people ask you What Do You Hate About Other People? whether it’s something in their attitude, their personal hygiene, their appearance, their manners or the way they talk.

I bet you can name A LONG LIST of what you dislike and hate to see in other people.

We can’t help it. We are just born to hate things that don’t meet our preferences. We tend to avoid these people who have the qualities that we dislike.

I generally dislike people who use foul language. I mean, that’s the first impression that you must pass before I can even think of making friends with you. And then, I dislike RUDE people. Rude means the person cannot show some respects for other people. And then I dislike people who have no principles. I hate people who like to suck up just to get something. I hate people who pretend to be good because of a hidden agenda. Whoa, I tell you I can name A LOT MORE!!

I thought of this topic after I had a deal with a lady, who is my mom’s age. She’s very experienced. Being a breadwinner in her family, she sure has a good Survival Strategy. With not so sophisticated office to run her business, still she’s able to lure many thousands into her bank account just by chipping in to government-funded projects and grab as many small opportunities as possible. To me, her experiences are her winning point. To her, I’m just a “toddler next door”. Erks. Maybe, right? Who knows.

This is what the lady did yesterday. I had a negotiation with her. She named a price – even lower than the discount price. It’s A Statement, not A Question of “Can I get this price?”. It’s like – I have to accept that price or argue with her. And IF I decide to argue, don’t you think it will make me look like the bad person because I argue with an older lady (exactly my mom’s age)? In this case, I have to keep my manners in place so that I don’t lose a friend. But if you were in her place, don’t you think you should play your part too? I definitely HATE IT when she takes advantage of her seniority over me. I HATE IT when she takes advantage of the situation that I don’t want to raise conflict. I HATE IT when she knows that [256] is not the type who would lose face over things like this. Yes, I do hate it. It’s painful to even think about it. I don’t care about the money I lost over the deal. It’s just money. But it’s the attitude of –MAKING USE- and –TAKING ADVANTAGE- of other people. I tell you. If you have these attitudes, you gonna make A LOT OF people hate you. Ask yourself ONCE AGAIN, if you have people like that, come to you and make a deal “out of friendship” and squeeze your to your last drop of blood, Tell Me To My Face – Are you sure you are NOT gonna hate it?

I thought of this while I was busy doing something. I ask myself…

“256, Are you sure you ARE NOT like that when you’re in her situation?”

I can say YES to that question. But then, here comes many other questions that I ask myself.

How sure am I that I DON’T HAVE any the attitudes that I hate in other people?

How sure am I that I am NOT HATED over the same qualities that I hate in other people?

See that, people? That’s my point here. I don’t write this post to emphasize about the little deal with the lady. The bigger question is, sometimes we stare too long at other people that we forget that we have our own shortcomings too.

If you can write the LONG LIST of what you hate in other people, make sure you are not hated for the SAME THINGS people can find in that list.

Fair Enough? :)