When you're exercising at the gym, you know there are certain rules of thumb to follow—like, wipe down your machine when you're done. I mean, that's just common sense! But in this world of social media—doesn't almost everyone have her phone somewhere on her person while working out?—there are some digital rules you should keep in mind too, according to Randi Zuckerberg, founder-CEO of Zuckerberg Media and author of Dot Complicated.
* Limit your picture taking. You should be proud of all those milestones you hit at the gym—absolutely! But Zuckerberg says that you should also try to keep the pic-taking to a minimum—specifically focusing on major successes, such as lifting a specific weight. Taking pic after pic (or, ugh, selfie after selfie) is distracting to everyone else.
* If you're going to do a selfie, make it a selfie. It invades other people's privacy when you're posing prettily and they're sweating in the background of your Facebook pictures or Instagrams. Nope!
* Don't stop your workout to text or tweet. If you're on the machine but pause or slow down just to respond to a tweet or text a friend, it's super-annoying—especially for the people who may be tip-tapping their toes, waiting for you to finish, so they can move on with their own exercise sessions.
Holiday parties are like weddings: if you’ve gone to the trouble of dressing up, buying gifts, and suffering whatever indignities the hosts have thrust upon you (singing carols, arbitrary New Years countdowns, and “secret” Santa games included) you deserve to go home with someone, or at least a phone number. To that end, here’s a helpful guide to Dos and Donts of holiday parties:
Do: Put thought into a gift. A bottle of booze is always easy, and fail-safe, but you may be rewarded if you take the time to pick out something unique, funny, or special for your hosts or to give away. Instead of being The Girl Who Loves Scotch, you can be The Girl Who Saved the Party (with her carefully curated playlist of the year’s best dance music).
Don’t: Bring a dirty gift. Even as a joke. Perviness is awesome, but there is a time and a place, and neither of them is near Santa or his elves. Women can get a way with a little more in this department than men can, and yes, wind-up penises that jump around are both inexpensive and hilarious, as are risqué playing cards, but it is unlikely that being remembered as “the one who did their Secret Santa shopping at a sex shop” will work in your favor.
Do: Wear comfortable shoes. Can’t stress this enough. If it’s a party in someone’s home, wear your boots and bring your nice shoes in a bag. If it's at a restaurant or club, do the same thing and coat check it, or just grin and bear it through the snow and cold until you reach your destination. Dancing is the key holiday mating ritual. You need feet that are both dry and appropriately shod to fully exercise your right to get down. Don’t: Wear anything too provocative, aka slutty. While holiday parties can, and should get a little wild, this is ultimately a time when people are thinking about family and togetherness and Scrooge McDuck. Maybe keep the sexy under control until grandma goes to bed, or at least until she’s had enough champagne not to notice. The whole fun is wondering what’s underneath that Christmas sweater--a representation of all those wild, impolite yearnings, encased restrictively in a conservative little shell. Like the Twilight movies--that’s sexy stuff.
Do: Carouse. It’s the holidays, don’t forget to make merry. The holidays don’t have to be all about others--don’t forget about you.
Don’t: Ignore the hosts. Many of the seasonal parties attend are hosted by our friends’ parents. This is really Partying 101, or basic courtesy, but it’s easy to forget to pay attention to these hosts. But they’ve gone to the trouble to throw a party, invite you, provide food and music, etc., actually invest some time talking to them for real, not just the perfunctory “hello” and “thanks for having me.” Making that extra and sincere effort can work wonders.
The above may help, but there really are no secret tips or tricks for success at a holiday jam. They are really just more opportunities to reveal the real version of yourself in perhaps the most amenable of environments. Like I said, these things are a lot like weddings: a little formal, a little fun, and everyone’s looking.
Other than EDSA, the Metro Rail Transit – 3 (MRT) is the next busiest transport system in the Philippines. Nearly half a million people use the MRT daily and with the trains almost full almost every hour of the day, the chances of meeting a strange person is extremely high.
Here are some examples of people you don’t want to meet in any of the crowded trains in Metro Manila:
The (Saltik) Crazed Addict – For whatever reason, this is the person you’d most hate to be riding with in a train. The crazy addict would tend to mumble or talk a lot of nonsense and even argue about anyone he thinks is sneering at him. The hard part is when this type of person suddenly becomes physically violent.
The (Pumapaduk) Preacher – Buses are no longer the domain of religious fanatics who preach the Bible to passengers. These types of persons are still rarely seen in metro trains. Sadly, even the loud sound of the train traveling on metal tracks isn’t enough to drown out the sound of these people who scream at the top of their voice in order to let everyone in the train cab hear the Word of God.
The (Nyokaw) Glutton – There are reasons why eating is prohibited in trains and they’re almost always related to trash and also the odor of food in a crowded, air conditioned train. Even in small amounts, it’s not ethical to eat inside trains. If everyone does it, imagine the leftovers, the trash, and the smell of the train.
The (Pacman) Talker – People using mobile phones tend to speak louder than normal, which is acceptable if they’re in wide open spaces. But think about what other passengers in a train would be thinking when they hear you speak loudly about your life story to someone else on the other line. While other people wouldn’t mind, it’s still annoying for others.
The (Horny Birds) Smooch -- It’s okay for couples to show how much they’re in love by giving a smack or two but what if it becomes too much that it’s no longer a tender kiss but a full-blown make out session? Yes, these couples can say they’re just being in love but we’re still in a country where the most often comment in seeing such people is “get a room.”
The (Kyawti) Smelly – Passengers with bad odor is fairly common in train rides, especially during rush hour in the morning and late afternoon. Due the Philippines’ constant humidity, the odor of tired, sweaty people can become overpowering. Add to the problem of crowding and the absence of air conditioning, people could literally lose consciousness when the odor becomes too much.
The (Evil Soldier) Bully – There are people who think they require more space inside the train than everyone else so they push others aside in order to get more space. They complain about feeling suffocated and would let everyone hear it. There is no reasoning with these people and even if someone tries to tell them to get off the train and take a cab (which is actually the best recourse for these bullies), those who intervene would only get a dose of screams and curses.
Riding the MRT will always be a challenge especially in a city where everyone would want to have a faster and relatively safer way of traveling along EDSA. Needless to say, people must still practice some etiquette if they want to remain satisfied in taking one of the busiest modes of transport in Metro Manila.
Follow the basic guidelines in the MRT – This means no eating, no smoking, no pushing and definitely no bringing of prohibited items such as drugs, guns, and knives in trains. Also do not ride when under the influence of alcohol. While most drunk people forget this, persons who see someone intoxicated are advised to take it to guards in every station.
Give way to others – There’s a reason why certain areas in a train cab do not have seats; these are reserved for disabled people on wheelchairs. There are also areas reserved for the elderly, pregnant women, and other types of disabled people. It does not matter if you’re tired, these people are in more sensitive situations than you are so give way.
Respect authority and facility – People do get angry when taking the MRT especially when their items have to be checked. No matter how insignificant the security checkpoints are when entering train stations, passengers have to accept this fact. People also have to avoid damaging equipment and facilities inside the MRT in many cases, the automatic door mechanisms get damaged when the doors do not operate when people forcibly open them.
Respect others – No matter how despicable others are, it’s still best to be nice. A long day at work is stressful. Don’t add anymore to your stress.
