Say NO! to SM

I've been an SM girl for as long as I can remember. I love the convenience of shopping for almost everything in one place, and the fact that I can choose from a wide range of prices and quality. I love that BDO branches in the malls have weekend banking and long weekday hours. I love that both my BDO account and my SM purchases give me reward points, and that I can buy anything from their stores with them.

But you know what they say about former lovers being the worst enemies.

SM does not care that it razes trees and farm land for its malls. It doesn't care that people around them lose their livelihoods. It doesn't care that it puts its employees and residents at risk when they build on unstable and dangerous land.

I've decided that I do not want to continue financing the unconscionable and irresponsible activities of SM. Shopping in their stores stops right now, and I will be closing my BDO accounts and changing my credit card within the next few weeks.

The thing is, I'm just one person and what I'm going to do won't even be an ant bite for this behemoth. Will you boycott all SM companies with me?

This lists all the SM companies and affiliates I know. If I've missed any, please write the name of the company in the comments and I'll add it to the list.

• SM Malls
• SM Department Store
• SM Supermarket
• SM Hypermart
• SaveMore
• Makro
• Science Discovery Center
• SM Residences
• M Place
• Hamilo Coast – Pico de Loro
• Tagaytay Highlands
• Taal Vista Hotel
• SMX Convention Center
• Banco de Oro
• China Bank
• Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu
• Toy Kingdom
• Watsons Personal Care
• Baby Company
• Our Home
• Sports Central
• Ace Hardware
• Homeworld
• Kultura Pilipino
• Forever 21
• Uniqlo
• Prime Spots Inc.

Reflections on respect

"Respect has to be earned."

How many times have you heard this statement, or a variation of it? How many times have you yourself said it?

I agree with it, of course. I cannot expect people to respect me if I am not honest, don't do my work well, am not trustworthy, don't have integrity, and so forth. I cannot expect respect from other people if I am not worthy of respect.

But what about the respect that I give other people? Do they have to be worthy of respect before I show them respect? Do they have to conform to my standards of what I deem to be a person worthy of respect before I treat them with respect?

This is where I begin to have problems with the statement above. I've heard it used too many times as an excuse for rude, discourteous and condescending behavior.

"I do not respect you. Therefore, I will treat you like dirt. I am going to talk to you like you are the stupidest, most ignorant person on earth."

I believe that even if a person really is stupid and ignorant, that's no excuse to be rude. Even if the other person is rude, that's still no excuse for you to be rude to her.

I believe that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, no matter how flawed they are.

I know it's difficult. I find it difficult. But the beautiful thing about it is, if you behave as if that obnoxious/difficult/stupid person you have to deal with is worthy of respect, she begins to believe it and act it. Until one day, she really becomes that person worthy of respect.


I hope that made sense. My thoughts have been in such a messy jumble for quite some time now.

The power of words

For most of this afternoon, my mind had been dwelling on the idea—and problems—of communication. And words. For various reasons, which I don't really need to explain because they're all work-related. So it was kind of uncanny that I got this from a friend also this afternoon. There are only two instances where words will be used. Don't miss the subtitles.

Historia de un letrero / The story of a sign

Earth Hour 2008

It started with a question: How can we inspire people to take action on climate change?

The answer: Ask the people of Sydney to turn off their lights for one hour.

On 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour. If the greenhouse reduction achieved in the Sydney CBD during Earth Hour was sustained for a year, it would be equivalent to taking 48,616 cars off the road for a year.

With Sydney icons like the Harbour Bridge and Opera House turning their lights off, and unique events such as weddings by candlelight, the world took notice. Inspired by the collective effort of millions of Sydneysiders, many major global cities are joining Earth Hour in 2008, turning a symbolic event into a global movement.

Created to take a stand against the greatest threat our planet has ever faced, Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming.

This simple act has captured the hearts and minds of people all over the world. As a result, at 8pm on Saturday, March 29, 2008 millions of people in some of the world’s major capital cities will unite and switch off for Earth Hour.

As of March 14, cities involved include Aalborg, Aarhus, Adelaide, Atlanta, Bangkok, Brisbane, Canberra, Chicago, Christchurch, Copenhagen, Dublin, Manila, Melbourne, Montreal, Odense, Ottawa, Perth, Phoenix, San Francisco, Suva and Lautoka, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Toronto and Vancouver.

All text, images and video from the Earth Hour 2008 website. Visit http://www.earthhour.org and get involved.

You've got mail.

You know how a lot of people have quotations, from the Bible or from a favorite book, as part of their email signature? In the office, I have quite a few (aside from my official signature, which I use only for people who don't know me yet), and almost each one is instructional. I set my email program to send them out randomly, but sometimes, I choose a specific one for a particular person if there's some attitude or behavior that I think needs a little influencing in the right direction.

I got them from all sorts of places. Some are quotations, some from those email messages that get passed all over the world, some I made up myself.

So without further ado, here they are:

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

'Tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.
Samuel Johnson

...when you are tense or anxious or hurrying,
you lose half your strength.
It takes calm to conquer a mountain.
Isabel Allende, "City of the Beasts"

In any situation, there is always one thing you can change: yourself.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
Michael Pollan, "Unhappy Meals"
The New York Times, 28 January 2007

It is sometimes a mistake to climb;
it is always a mistake never even to make the attempt.
If you do not climb, you will not fall. This is true.
But is it that bad to fail, that hard to fall?
Morpheus in "Fear of Falling," The Sandman: Fables & Reflections

Seek first to understand then be understood.
When both parties are trying to be understood, neither is really listening.
Habit 5
Stephen Covey, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything;
they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference.
The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference.
And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.
Elie Wiesel in U.S. News and World Report, 27 October 1986

Leading others well begins with leading yourself well.

Authentic knowledge of self. Acceptance. Awareness. Presence. Courtesy.

A person who is nice to you but is rude to the waiter is not a nice person.

It's not about you.

The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You don't blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny.
Psychologist Albert Ellis

Talk slowly but think quickly.

It's not who you are underneath, it's what you do
that defines you.
Rachel in "Batman Begins"

If something's worth doing, then it's worth doing well.

Be where you are.