Thanks...But No Thanks

Living on the western side of the globe has its share of eccentricities involved. The first thing that amazed me , and later pissed me off, is the so called "courtesy" of this culture. They find it imperative to inject "thank yous" and "sorrys" in almost every damn thing. I mean, saying it when its due is one thing but using it for just the heck of it is........well..... useless. It was so ridiculously (mis)used that sometimes I used to get confused whether the mistake was mine or the other person offering me his "sorry". When I accidentally hit you and you say sorry then you got to be kidding me.

Anway whats the deal with all this superficial bull shit. I don't get it. Back home in India, things were simple. If I made a mistake I would apologize...if someone did something good to me that they were not obligated to do then I would offer my gratefulness. For example, I never remember thanking my bus driver for driving me to school...coz it was his duty..he was obligated to do that..he's being paid for that. Same goes with waiters in restaurants, shopkeepers etc. This might seem uncultured to some of you...but I dont think there's anything wrong with this culture. Atleast in our place...if someone said Thankyou or Sorry it meant a lot...it would really have an impact. Now, in USA, if someone says the same, I seriously dont give a fuck...because I know they dont mean it and they say it just for the heck of it. So whats the point of saying it..when there is no impact of it on the other person...just for the sake of courtesy. It seems so superficial. If these everyday thanqs and sorrys make your day...by all means have fun. I hope it doesnt become another "boy who cried wolf" story..where people don't care even when you mean it from the bottom of your heart (pardon the cliche).

Strange thing is, I'm so battered with all these courtesies for the past one year that I am gradually, and unfortunately, getting used to it. I have almost reached a point now, wherein I would feel indignant if some one isn't courteous (read TY and S) and on the other hand dishing out courtesies to other people has become involuntary. Grooving in is always a difficult thing to do....being adaptive and holding on to one's identity is always an eternal struggle and one has to be cautious when treading the thin line between them.

po(u)wnce

Today someone in our office sent a mail to the mailing list that he is giving out invites to a "pownce" and asked people not to bother about it if they don't know about it! For a second I thought..rather guiltily...What the heck is this pownce? Is it something basic every geek is supposed to know and I don't? Now, I admit that I am not neck deep into the latest happenings of the websphere but I do tend to pick up things here and there during my daily dose of net surfing. Anyway, turns out this is some new web-application, ( pownce ), whose lead developer is a chic named Leah Culver (looks good btw)! Yeah I know ... female .. developer .... good looking...thats an epic combination..thats one of the main reasons I decided to check it out. Also, since the digg guy (Kevin Rose) is behind this..the expectations are kinda high ...after seeing the overwhelming response (err..requests) to my invites. my colleagues were pouncing for the pownce, hence the title.

Having said that, I dont really understand the USP of it. I mean the site says we can transfer files, send links, notes and events to friends. But I can already do all of this with my gtalk or ym..so why bother? for the free account the file size is limited to 10mb....atleast gtalk doesnt have any limit afaik. I dont understand whats the big deal about sending links..aren't they messages (or notes in their lingo) anyway? Sending events to friends is probably new (I don't think ym or gtalk have this option) and cool...but I am used to facebook events.

Probably it is too early to comment on the site...or rule it out...or I just don't get it. If any of you have any comments let me know...my ears are open. Oh yeah, if you want an invite lemme know..I can probably get one for you from some of my frenz. In the meanwhile...I wish the pownce team all the best.