dating (consejos)

for awhile, i felt like something was wrong with me because everybody here was always giving me all these 'tips' for self-improvement. all i could think was, jeez, i have either rapidly deterioriated into the most unworthy human being ever or i have no ability whatsoever to choose quality friends. however, it turns out that, in fact, tip giving is a way of showing that you care for someone in latinamerica. it shows that you are thinking about the other person and care about their well-being. ummm, i guess?

often the tips are simple like: jennifer, you shouldn-t eat your nails. if you can-t control that, then what can you control? usually, i just nod and then feel like shit.

sometimes the tips can be pretty intense like why don-t you get better job and buy a car. i-m still not over that one.

for a gringo, what we hear is... what am i? a child? you don-t trust me to be able to recognize my own faults and self-correct them. it-s not that we can-t take constructive criticism (although, we are pretty bad at it), it-s just we are a very individualistic society and that-s none of your fucking business... even if we are fucking.

at first i would be upset for days and days when i would get these 'tips', but nowdays, i try to remind myself what it means in this culture and not to get my feelings hurt, but... i can assure that you will not catch me giving my friends 'tips'!