TSGTHSAITOHM

Welcome to the first edition of a number of short posts I'd like to call The Short Guide To Handling Society And It's Truckload Of Horse Manure, or TSGTHSAITOHM for short, which doesn't seem short at all. In these brief posts I will share some information and opinion on my experiences interacting with the masses. And hopefully you guys would maybe understand, even benefit from these few paragraphs of advice and fast typing. Shall we get to it then?


Never take things at face value.
It is what it is. The superficial appearance of a person can always be what it is, but who's to say it won't go belly up and turn out to be a idiotic stuck up wanker? Exactly. Unless you know said person inside out then it's always nice to be wary of company. If it's a new face, try to see what said person is like when the limits are off. A chameleon adapts to its environment, so let's give him a neutral one and see how he blends in. And see for yourself, really.

Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.
Lending from Mario Puzo, this quote is probably the reason the Don was Don, and why he had the whole of NY in his hands in The Godfather. So what does it mean? Well, in a very complicated and deceptive world of politics, keeping one's enemy closer than his or her friend would be keeping tabs on how your enemies are getting along, knowing his or her strengths and weaknesses and generally being on good terms with them. What you do with that knowledge, though, isn't mentioned in this quote, so be responsible lads.

If you're a leader, be a leader.
We go through this every time. You're elected by your peeps to be a leader of sorts. Or maybe by authority higher than them. Or maybe you just happened to volunteer. Now I've had my fair share of leadership time, and probably the biggest advice I can give to budding leaders is to be one. So when am I not a leader? One of the ways I'd use often is to compare yourself with a dictator. Dictators are leaders. Just really bad ones. Dictators make their decisions for other people based on themselves, while leaders make decisions for other people that are actually based on other people. Always discuss decisions with your group, delegate jobs, do your own, do it well, and generally spread that power you get from leadership. The decisions you make should be the one that takes everyone forward, not just your own sorry ass. It's lonely on top.

Keep distance.
This is probably a controversial and weird, if not unacceptable advice, but trust me on this. I'm not implying you should deprive yourself of society like a fool, what I'm implying is that you should mix around, and mix around well when you do, but back off when you see it necessary. You see, to the general public that doesn't know you, you're only defined by the company you have. If you see yourself having better days in seclusion, then by all means. Being alone has its benefits too, prime of which is having no perceptions to fulfil. It's an experience beyond words. Try it.

Be yourself.
This is probably the last thing one does when in a group. You see, in a group there's always the infuential one that everyone will look to fit in with so that they'd be good buds and hopefully wrest out some of that influence. But what that does generally is turn the group into a cult following, and that influential wanker is playing kingpin. And he knows it. So be yourself, you're obligated to follow no one, and vice versa. This way, the friends you /do/ get are genuine acquaintances that want you. You'd want that too, don't you?

Till next time.