Saturday, March 18, 2006
A Matter of Perspective
You ever get totally conflicting opinions from two people about the same subject? One of your friends hates Anchorman (douche!), while the other accurately depicts it for what it is, one of the funniest movies of all time! Someone whines about how the nightlife sucks, while someone raves about what a fun night he/she had at Fluid?
Well, of course, that's because people have different personalities, objectives, and agendas, which cause people to have differing experiences and interpetations of events around them.
Another example of this can be evidenced when talking about different cities. [Now instead of saying conflicting opinions, I'll just say differing outlooks, as no-one will ever say they didn't have a good time while on vacation in another city.] Given the short period of time people have to visit a city, the places they will visit and activities they will participate in will be vary slightly to a lot.
A perfect example of this was my flight back to San Francisco from Sydney. [note: post about trip is still in edit mode]. Seated to my left, was a cool dude, Kevin, a Colombus, Ohio medical resident who along with a few other residents, got to do a six-week stint with a hospital in Sydney. On my right was a cool and good-looking chick, Kim, who went last minute, by herself and with no contact, when her friend couldn't go and gave Kim her plane ticket. Lastly, there was me in the middle. I had met up with Anh, who flew in from L.A. His crew of 5 yoked-out Aussies (freinds of his roommate) showed us around.
Me to Kevin: "We partied hard, Fri - Sun. We went to these places, Hugo's at the Crest Hotel, Dragonfire, and Tank, that had smokin' hot chicks! I mean, like LA hot, quantity and quality. But the chicks were kinda tough"
Kevin: "Yeah, we went to Hugo's a couple of nights. Those chicks were tough. But there was this place called Element across the street - the girls were a notch lower, but much easier!"
Me to Kim: "My buddy stayed at the Kirketon in Kings Cross. I stayed at the Altamon which was just down the block. It was about $125 a night."
Kim: "I stayed at a backpackers' hotel for $18 a night."
Kim to Me: "Oh so you were pretty close to the Mardi Gras Parade"
Me: "Yeah, that wasn't our scene, so we avoided the chaos by having dinner in Bondi that night. Then we partied at the clubs that night."
Kim: "Oh, I checked it out. It was total chaos. But I had fun - ended up getting super high and drunk, and passed out on the street" (She is not gay by the way)
Me to Kevin: "Well, we were only there for five, six days. And since were partying so hard, we only got to spend about 4 hours total on the beach during the trip."
Kevin: "The hospital we were stationed at, pretty much only made us work 4 days the entire time. We got to do about six days of surfing. It was awesome."
Me to Kim: "Every club we went to seemed to only play house."
Kim: "All I heard all weekend was rock. I was out at this park concert with 25 bands on Saturday".
And with that, I've left you with three perspectives of the great city of Sydney. Oi!
Well, of course, that's because people have different personalities, objectives, and agendas, which cause people to have differing experiences and interpetations of events around them.
Another example of this can be evidenced when talking about different cities. [Now instead of saying conflicting opinions, I'll just say differing outlooks, as no-one will ever say they didn't have a good time while on vacation in another city.] Given the short period of time people have to visit a city, the places they will visit and activities they will participate in will be vary slightly to a lot.
A perfect example of this was my flight back to San Francisco from Sydney. [note: post about trip is still in edit mode]. Seated to my left, was a cool dude, Kevin, a Colombus, Ohio medical resident who along with a few other residents, got to do a six-week stint with a hospital in Sydney. On my right was a cool and good-looking chick, Kim, who went last minute, by herself and with no contact, when her friend couldn't go and gave Kim her plane ticket. Lastly, there was me in the middle. I had met up with Anh, who flew in from L.A. His crew of 5 yoked-out Aussies (freinds of his roommate) showed us around.
Me to Kevin: "We partied hard, Fri - Sun. We went to these places, Hugo's at the Crest Hotel, Dragonfire, and Tank, that had smokin' hot chicks! I mean, like LA hot, quantity and quality. But the chicks were kinda tough"
Kevin: "Yeah, we went to Hugo's a couple of nights. Those chicks were tough. But there was this place called Element across the street - the girls were a notch lower, but much easier!"
Me to Kim: "My buddy stayed at the Kirketon in Kings Cross. I stayed at the Altamon which was just down the block. It was about $125 a night."
Kim: "I stayed at a backpackers' hotel for $18 a night."
Kim to Me: "Oh so you were pretty close to the Mardi Gras Parade"
Me: "Yeah, that wasn't our scene, so we avoided the chaos by having dinner in Bondi that night. Then we partied at the clubs that night."
Kim: "Oh, I checked it out. It was total chaos. But I had fun - ended up getting super high and drunk, and passed out on the street" (She is not gay by the way)
Me to Kevin: "Well, we were only there for five, six days. And since were partying so hard, we only got to spend about 4 hours total on the beach during the trip."
Kevin: "The hospital we were stationed at, pretty much only made us work 4 days the entire time. We got to do about six days of surfing. It was awesome."
Me to Kim: "Every club we went to seemed to only play house."
Kim: "All I heard all weekend was rock. I was out at this park concert with 25 bands on Saturday".
And with that, I've left you with three perspectives of the great city of Sydney. Oi!
Impeach Bush!
So my college buddy, Sang, was in town last weekend. Now we went to UC Berkeley, which is just across the bay, from San Francisco. After college, left the Bay Area and now lives in Atlanta.
Anyway, since it was over 5 years since Sang has stepped back in San Francisco, I decided to give him a quick re-tour of the city. Among some of the comments:
[After I told him we were going to go check out Union Square] "Oh, you mean that grassy area where we celebrated the New Year's countdown a long time ago?" [side note: I am currently hammering out this blog, on one of the seating areas at Union Square, using the free Googe Wifi]
[After showing him the Ferry Building] "You know, the entire time I was at Berkeley, I don't think I ever stepped inside the Ferry Building." Yes, Sang, that's because before it got renovated a couple years ago, it was more or less a homeless shelter.
"I don't see why you keep saying the Tenderloin is so bad - the places you showed me were really cool." This was after we stopped by Eura Cafe for coffee, Swig for beers, and peered inside Rye Bar, which was closed. [Side note: I live on the boundary, and not tbe heart of the Tenderlon].
[After showing him the buildup of South of Market] "When I was in school, the only place here was Club Cairo".
My point being, its the natural and popular thought, to bash politicians, and their inability to solve society's problems, and to assign corruption and dishonesty to anyone carrying the political label. But before you start complaining about the political process, look around you and try to appreciate the progress that takes place in our society every day.
Anyway, since it was over 5 years since Sang has stepped back in San Francisco, I decided to give him a quick re-tour of the city. Among some of the comments:
[After I told him we were going to go check out Union Square] "Oh, you mean that grassy area where we celebrated the New Year's countdown a long time ago?" [side note: I am currently hammering out this blog, on one of the seating areas at Union Square, using the free Googe Wifi]
[After showing him the Ferry Building] "You know, the entire time I was at Berkeley, I don't think I ever stepped inside the Ferry Building." Yes, Sang, that's because before it got renovated a couple years ago, it was more or less a homeless shelter.
"I don't see why you keep saying the Tenderloin is so bad - the places you showed me were really cool." This was after we stopped by Eura Cafe for coffee, Swig for beers, and peered inside Rye Bar, which was closed. [Side note: I live on the boundary, and not tbe heart of the Tenderlon].
[After showing him the buildup of South of Market] "When I was in school, the only place here was Club Cairo".
My point being, its the natural and popular thought, to bash politicians, and their inability to solve society's problems, and to assign corruption and dishonesty to anyone carrying the political label. But before you start complaining about the political process, look around you and try to appreciate the progress that takes place in our society every day.
