Friday Five 10-December-2021

[elusivek]

First are the questions from thefridayfive!
These questions were written by paintedblue120.

1. Do you brush your teeth at least 2-3 times a day?
That's like, the standard that I was taught all through my life? Granted, I can't brush after lunch, I've tried, but it just doesn't work out for me when I'm in the office, but I do brush my teeth regularly. Morning and night! I've even developed the habit of brushing my teeth after breakfast, and then immediately after dinner. No more food nor snacks after dinner.

2. Do you whiten your teeth?
I've lazily tried a whitening toothpaste here and there, but I haven't consciously or purposefully gone and whitened my teeth. I did read or hear somewhere that it's a very American thing.

3. Have you ever worn braces?
I've never worn braces, but now that I'm fixing two of my molars (I suppose), I have this "device" that I have to put in my mouth so I can't bite down, and I guess that's as close to braces as I'll ever get.

4. Do you ever wish you had worn braces, or wish you had never worn them?
I never had the need to wear braces because I have perfect teeth. Except for that one front tooth that has a crack (and you have to really look to be able to see that), I practically have perfect teeth. The molars I'm fixing now were simply pushed out of place when I got my wisdom teeth, and the dentist at that time promised me that once the wisdom teeth are removed, those molars would move back in place. They never moved, and now I'm getting them fixed more for the principle of it than anything else.

5. Have you ever made fun of someone with glasses or braces?
I feel like such bullying is a very American thing to do. I've never had that problem, nor had I witnessed that. Classmates that needed glasses? Okay, they need glasses. Braces? Can you eat? You are fine? Great! I recall having a classmate that had to wear some kind of contraption that looked like those roller coaster harness so that she is forced to keep her spine straight or something. Did anyone say anything ever? No. Hey that looks uncomfortable, are you sure you're ok? Yes? That's great!


Then these are the questions from F.riday5.com!

1. What are your primary considerations as you decide what to wear on a typical day?
"Did I wear them yesterday?", "Can I get away with wearing the same thing in 2 consecutive days?", "I need to walk a lot today, better choose something that goes with my casual shoes." ....... etc....

2. When did you have to select one person over others, much to others’ disappointment?
I haven't had to do such a thing on the spot, well, neither off the spot. Though I'm sure if I'm to choose something for a raise or some kind of commendation, I know already who I'd choose, and the other one would most definitely turn indignant and ask why it wasn't her.

3. When have you recently chosen the least unpleasant of unpleasant options?
That's just the way of life, you have to choose the "lesser evil" or however that phrase is said.

4. In a bookstore, in a restaurant, in a gift shop, or wherever, how do you feel about having lots and lots and lots of choices?
I'd rather not have so many choices. There's a Chinese saying, 花多眼亂 meaning, "there's too many flowers to be able to differentiate". So, trim down the choices to around 5, then it limits the length my brain has to go on a diatribe.

5. What are some things you wish you didn’t have to make choices regularly about?
Daily clothes - I'd really like to get a standard uniform, or a standard baseline. Lunch food - If you look at my past 10 bills, I've been frequenting the same restaurant ordering the same item for around 10 days in a row. There's just TOO MANY CHOICES.

Comments

[kurikuribebi]

Bullying is very much an Asian thing. The school system is ridiculous. As is the work environment. American bullying might seem more frequent because it gets called out more compared to the blatant disregard of it in Asian cultures. But it's to be expected, since parents have such a lax parenting style :/ :/ :/

[notte0.livejournal.com]

I wonder if it’s simply I’ve been so lucky (or so slow to understand) that I have never encountered, much less experienced that. Honestly, I’m trying to think of all the things I think would have been prime bullying targets (especially if I base what I see on TV or read about as parallels), but I guess fortunately I’ve never been exposed to that.

[kurikuribebi]

Maybe. It's idiotic to go by what you see on TV and internet, as everything is always exaggerated or biased. But having lived in both the US and Asia, I actually laugh at the bullying that goes on in US. It's so mild compared to the backhandedness that goes on here. People are just less likely to whip out their phones here.

On an interesting note though, European countries actually rank the highest in bullying. Huh.

[amw.livejournal.com]

I can't speak for schools, but i do think bullying happened in the Chinese (mainland) workplace. It is sometimes more subtle, like people don't say directly something about the person, but it seems more like veiled insult, like 捧殺 kind of thing. Plus there is also the very direct authoritarian type bullying where the person who is the manager or who has the power will speak in a very degrading way to their subordinates and people are just supposed to quietly accept that. I suppose that's not exactly the same as bullying about a physical appearance, but i think the end result on the victim is the same.