A post about.... wala lang

Does it ever occur to you that a lot of the youth today have little idea as to why they do the things they do? Come to think of it, it's not only adolescents or twentysomethings who seem not to know what they want -- right now, I'm not really sure where I want to go with this post. I've had something in particular in mind that I had been raring to blog about, but I just couldn't seem to sit down and ruminate on it. Ranting to a friend was easier and that's just what I did several days ago. So, if you ask me what I really want to say with this post, off the top of my head I'd probably say, "Wala lang." Talk about indecision.

Here's how it all started: a couple of months ago, when some raging issue was all over Facebook and the newspapers, a friend pointed out how an apology these days didn't sound like a genuine expression of regret any longer. "I am sorry that people have been offended..." or "I am sorry that people did not find it agreeable that..." was the statement in question. He asserted that people nowadays had a tendency to apologize not for the act committed but for the undesired effects of the act. That got me thinking. And I shall blog about it another day.

Thing is, that brief commentary on the matter of offering apologies led me to consider expressions of other sentiments that make it to Facebook walls. Like "Just sayin'." What does a dude really want to convey when he ends a comment with that? I probably wouldn't have paid any attention to the phrase had it not been used like it's an appendage of every expressed opinion that's a criticism or has a potential-ruffler-of-feathers quality. Is it a disclaimer of sorts? Like, "The recent trial shows undeniably that Philippine politics is bulok to the bone. Just sayin'." Or, "This lady whom people refer to as an artist -- dinadaan lang sa props at mega-production numbers at mockery of religion, then she's an artist na kahit wala namang talent. Just sayin'." Or, "These self-professed 'progressive thinkers' who call themselves Catholic then don't even study what 2,000 years of history and teachings mean and then call on their Church to be open-minded and change with the times -- they're so open-minded their brains fell out. Just sayin'."

Well, that last one...ahehe. If you do say something like that, it'll probably help to hide behind a phrase like "Just sayin'" because it sounds as if you're expressing an idea out of spite. But really, wouldn't it be a practice in honesty, sincerity and courage to simply state what one means and leave it at that? No hiding behind phrases that just show that the person hesitates to stand his ground? I mean, when you say something, dapat panindigan mo, hindi ba? If someone disagrees with what was said, then a discussion could ensue. If you're ridiculed for your ideas, take it like a man (or a woman). If you realize that you made a mistake somewhere, rectify as needed.

Like I said at the beginning of this post, I don't know where this is going. I did want to make a point, though. And that is, it seems that a person who habitually ends his comments/commentaries with a phrase like "Just sayin'" or its equivalent is well on his way toward mastering cowardice rather than courage.

Well, I made a point, after all. Looks like this post isn't merely wala lang.


* Illustration from MangaMagazine.net