The Right to Complain
So I log on this morning and start my usual writing chores when I come in here and check up on whatever messages and the like have been left for me and I had one comment in particular that I thought was very poignant. On September 29th I wrote this rant on “Juega Vivo” culture and I got a very interesting comment from one sir Gustavo:
Gustavo Gordon Guerrero Said:
October 9th, 2006 at 10:26 pm
Hello, I do concur with most of what u say, but at the same time, i think you are contradicting yourself, or is that your example of the cell phone is just an example? My point is, are you just criticizing or trying to make things better in our country? are u taking care of this? if you are, mosh, please let me know, i would love to help but if your article is just to criticize, i think is not that helpful…
Now, I had a conversation yesterday that touched on the subject of me using the site to bitch and complain about the things I don’t like and I just laughed; of course I use my chunk of the Internet to complain about my society’s ills. I like to think that my spoon in this particular bowl of oatmeal is different from the others in the sense that I don’t really sugarcoat things and call the people out on their shit. Now, it’s human nature to feel attacked when someone else points out your flaws… it happens to me, and it happens to everyone. This assertive commenter did pose an interesting point though! Criticizing just for the sake of criticizing is downright hypocritical and, just as he pointed out, doesn’t help at all. It’s a shame that he didn’t read my rant on the free cell phone I used to have thoroughly, since otherwise it would’ve been even more asserted. I don’t fault him, though… recently people have gone out to try and bring me down based on info they’ve gathered badly because they couldn’t read my posts thoroughly. I felt compelled to clarify, so I wrote this back to him:
Rob Said:
October 10th, 2006 at 5:57 am
Well think about it this way: I got that cell phone fix when i was around 15. That was 8 years ago now… I pay for the minutes on my cell phone now (as much as I wouldn’t like to). It’s an example of the type of stuff you can get away with in Panama if you so much as wish for it… Now, what am I doing to make things better? Hell, if you must know, the Porto Diao server’s legit payed for by my job which I didn’t have to know anyone to earn it (this of being a copywriter/content editor which is something that’s just starting here), I pay cheap beer because I’m half broke more than half the time; fully aware of this, I’m still dumping time, money and effort into using Porto Diao as a forward-thinking machine, making events and creating ideas that people haven’t seen before in order to broaden their minds a little. And even though I might know people that have get-rich-quick schemes set up, I don’t do them even though they would most probably give me a finantial breather because I wouldn’t feel right doing them and on top of that, it would kind of make me a hypocrite. Si me quejo, pues me quejo con propiedad.
What are you doing to make your country better, Gustavo?
I don’t complain unless I’m willing to do something about it. I hope Gustavo comes back and answers too, because It’d be really comforting to know that there are other people out there trying to make this country a better place. My conversation yesterday made me realize that I do in fact talk about the stuff I don’t like, bitch, ridicule and destroy on an almost-daily basis here and never talk about nice, cute and cuddly stuff. Well, I’m not the type that writes and publishes about how great my life is going and the like because I feel like that part of me is mine, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is something I will not share with you. I know you’re awesome and I thank you for each day you come in here for a laugh but there are certain things I won’t talk about… I’d rather use this priviledge you’ve given me to talk to you via the written word to tell you about this place I love so much, Panama, so much so that I want it to be the best that it can be. Like I’ve said many a time, change comes from within and it makes me very upset how the news shows are so depressing and nothing’s looking up. How can I let it pass that the mainstream public is creatively bankrupt, doesn’t care about the future of their country enough to read thoroughly and research before making an opinion and so many other little things that prevent us from moving forward? There are people who are forward thinkers and are letting their mind do some excersice and do something different for once; I know I’m not alone, and like me there are many people and groups who want Panama to be an outlet of freedom of expression, equality and thought. What sucks is that just as we have brilliant people doing incredible things and iniciatives to broaden culture and society, we have “proud Panamanians…”
ProudPanamanian Said:
October 5th, 2006 at 5:54 pm
Look ugly american…if you don’t like Panama,Panamanian men or whatever in Panama…PACK YOUR STUFF AND LEAVE PANAMA AND GO BACK TO YOUR COUNTRY.
There is no need to put down Panamanian men,besides,i THINK YOU ARE JUST PLAIN JEALOUS OF LATINO MEN/PANAMANIAN MEN.ANGLO SAXON MEN ARE TOO SISSY FOR US,PANAMANIAN WOMAN.THE ONLY PANAMANIAN WOMAN WHO MARRIES EXPATS IS BECAUSE SHE IS EITHER TOO SLUT TO GET MARRIED LOCALLY OR SHE IS PLAIN TOO POOR AND WANT
YOUR MONEY….
GO TRAVEL,UGLY AMERICAN.Macho attitude is EVERYWHERE..EVEN IN THE USA,CANADA AND EUROPE…
Sometimes I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry. This lady (she’s a lady, upon further inspection) contradicts her arguments with her very principles; so wait, how’s a “Panamanian woman who marries Ex-Pats is because she is either too slut to get married locally or she is plain too poor and want your money” any different from you, who wants your man to buy you your food, pay your house and bills, take you out on vacations and expensive trips on his dime in exchange for cleaning his place, washing his clothes and having his dinner ready before he gets home… like you’re some kind of slave? The difference between a so-called “slutty” Panamanian woman and you, “proud” Panamanian woman, is that you have to work like a maid in order to live without having to pay any bills. “Slutty” over there doesn’t have to do a thing! Oh. My. God. It would seem that you’re an idiot. Great choice there, miss. Don’t forget to clean the toilet and scrub the shower floor! You wouldn’t want to make your macho man angry and have him punch you again for your insolence.
It’s stuff like this chick’s dumbness that makes me feel very bad about the country I’m in. I know not everyone’s like this but the people with, say, the power of the vote have this mentality where they’ll let themselves be promptly fucked in exchange for something like finantial security. What in the hell? If I had a dime for every time a Colombian stripper wanted me to marry her just so she could get the citizenship and drain my money then this “ugly American” would have enough money to “go travel.” What’s worse is that they’ve got this fixed perception of how their lives should be that they won’t allow themselves to see other options. I bet that this “proud Panamanian” lady, upon reading that I am in fact Panamanian, was so amazed that her head exploded. Either that or she thinks I’m gay or something. Point of the matter is that you tell me people like this exist in my country and I can’t complain about it?! Let me LOL myself down a flight of stairs. I do see Gustavo’s point though… critizicing without being willing to do something about it is not healthy. Just look at how politicians throw bad press at each other on a daily basis and it all never amounts to anything!
People, complain. But complain with authority… if there’s anything I’d like you to take out of reading this site is that the power of freedom of thought and expression is one of the most valuable things you possess and you should excercise it as much as you can, no matter how people react to it. In fact, if you’ve pissed someone off with your opinion then that usually means you’re getting through to people’s minds and that, my dear friend, means you’re doing something right.
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