Hello, I blog!
I share all my sporadic and toilet thoughts in here, because I am random like that.
I’m glad you’re safe.
People should just learn to stop fucking judging.
Are you in that person’s shoes? Do you know what the person is going through? Do you know what it means to have depressive disorder (or any other major illness, for that matter)? Do you know how it feels to be subject to something that is totally beyond your control?
Do you know how it’s like to experience the anger, the frustration, the hurt and dejection as you continuously crawl your way back to normalcy but keep falling?
You don’t? Then shut up.
It’s so easy to simply stand out there and watch, blame and accuse. This is what the human race has degenerated into – a bunch of cold-blooded people with a complete lack of empathy.
I’m extremely relieved you’re still alive, Elaine.
And please stay alive. People love you.
What’s in a brand? It’s beyond just a name.
The following snippet from a random conversation got me thinking.
“That’s a nice watch. Where did you get that watch from?”
“It’s from Swatch,” says I.
“Really? Are you sure? I don’t see the word ‘Swatch’ anywhere leh!”
Swatch is a brand that’s pretty well known for their pop, funky watch designs. In fact, I personally believe they are one of the few watch brands with a clear identity. They’ve established their branding so well that any watches they create are distinctively Swatch.
Such is the beauty of good branding where brands are recognized by the identity they create or the personality they exude.
Unfortunately, it still seems that people still recognize the value of a possession primarily by the presence of a brand name on it, which is pretty sad. The unsung heroes behind a company with a good branding (usually the designers and branding managers) are not given the recognition they deserve.
This may not be representative of the general population but based on my own experience in a predominantly Asian country and surrounded by materialistic people. A Coach bag is not a Coach bag unless it has the Coach logo on it. A Louis Vuitton Bag is not a Louis Vuitton bag unless it’s emblazoned all over with the LV logo. “Don’t buy that bag, it doesn’t have the Coach logo on it. No one will know it’s a Coach bag!”
I’ve encountered the above conversation snippet more often than I can count on both hands and I can’t help but feel indignant for the designers behind the brands involved.
I understand people love to associate themselves with brands as it feels prestigious. I’ve no argument against that. We’re a status-obsessed society anyway.
But surely, there’s a better way to associate oneself with a brand other than having a fixation on the actual presence of the brand name or logo on one’s physical possessions.
At the most simple level, how about an appreciation for the design instead? Does it suit your needs? Is it nice?
What kind of personality does the brand exude? (An executive feel? A youthful, funky feel? A contemporary feel with an emphasis on simplicity?) Does the it reflect you? Some people love to associate themselves with brands that are in-line with their beliefs (i.e. philanthropy or a brand’s viewpoint and action towards issues such as ‘against animal testing’) or whose designs represent who they are.
That’s so much better than being fixated on a mere logo or name.
My name is Brenda. But, must I walk around with my name plastered on my chest for my friends to know it’s me? True proponents of a brand see beyond a name.
Just like how individuals are recognized based on a whole bunch of other characteristics such as behaviour, personality, ability, family background and looks by the people they matter to most.
Not the name on their identity card.
How to stop a kid from crying
Just imagine you’re in a public place. Doesn’t matter if the place is quiet or noisy to begin with. Nearby, you spot a couple with a really young child no more than three years old. For some reason or another, the kid suddenly starts bawling at the top of his/her little lungs while the parents struggle to control the kid (but in vain).
Grarrr, when will the kid just shut the fuck up already? Most of us would think.
Well, one of my best friends has this theory of how to get kids to quieten down. Kids often yell, scream and cry for attention. Positive attention, she says. They want to be mollycoddled by the parents, and basically have the parents fall to their knees coaxing the life out of them just to get them to stop crying.
And when the parents actually give in, they are reinforcing the behaviour. In future, the kids will resort to making one hell of a noise to get what they want because … well, it worked before, didn’t it?
So, she says, what if we gave them attention that is contrary to what they want instead?
She continues. The next time you see a kid crying, look in their generation, point and laugh. She assured me that so far, this has had a 100% success rate for her.
This evening, I decided to put her theory to the test.
While queuing at a restaurant, this kiddo standing nearby suddenly began bawling loudly. The mayhem lasted for a good two minutes and showed no signs of slowing down. The younger cousin and I were trying our darnedest best to hold a decent conversation but it was hard when every sentence was punctuated with an even louder wail.
In a mixture of exasperation and bemusement, I decided to share my friend’s theory to the younger cousin.
“So you see, my friend has this theory. Next time, when you see some kid crying somewhere and the parents can’t seem to calm them down, you should just start laughing at the kid.”
That was when I did a live demonstration – on that kid.
Imagine me looking straight into the kiddo’s eyes and laughing. Not a loud, MUAHAHA kind of laugh – but a slightly muted version of that. Well, I was trying this for the first time, so I wasn’t quite sure about err … how the parents will take to it.
And damn, it worked.
The kid clammed up instantly and looked straight at me. Big wide, innocent eyes. As if wondering “waiiiiiiii is this girl laughing at me?”
And it was back to blissful silence.
Awesome. My friend is such a genius.
Caveat: I doubt the parents were very pleased, though – because the kid’s dad was constantly shooting me disapproving looks after that. In response, I returned him a look that was meant to say well, it seems like I can control your kid better than you. (;
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