Kiki (a computer science friend of mine) told me today over a nice lunch conversation with her and Kevin (my office mate) that people in America are brought up to avoid confrontation. Although this is of course a generalization (I am, by the way, a master of generalization) this sounds very familiar to my ears from what I have experienced so far in the States. People often comment on my straightforward nature, especially when it comes to the other virtues of life than work (that is, love and sex). I am also often noted for my very blunt behavior when expressing quite complicated feelings (as recent as yesterday) and I often get into trouble with my humor. However, the latter is often the result of people misunderstanding the subtle Danish sarcasm.

Because of the above, I sometimes get into weird situations. But what’s the point of being a closed book? Seriously, our lives are too short to waste time on interpreting hidden messages and wrapping everything up in nice little bags that are overly difficult to open — or even just plainly ignoring everything entirely.

Of course there is a fine line and I am actually very unconfrontational with people in most matters. For example, if I find a person unpleasant, I usually just ignore and avoid the person. There is no need for telling him/her and being mean. Or if I find a person less mentally gifted than average, I do not easily get myself to say “jeez, you’re really retarded, man”. But when it comes to emotional matters, I prefer total bluntness.

By the way, my school demotivation program has been running on 100% power these past weeks. Now, I am actually starting to get below 0 points of motivation. Perhaps this will create a reverse process that suddenly fills me with motivation and happiness. One can only hope.