Spectrums

I'm an obsessive comparer. Or maybe its normal and everyone does it. I don't know but sometimes I annoy myself.
I know comparing is unhealthy when you are comparing yourself with everyone around you. You tend towards "negative comparison" which means that you compare yourself with people who are doing better, are more fit, seem happier, have good careers instead of with people who you percieve to be less off than you. Also, I, for one, do "bits-and-pieces" comparison. Where, I want to have this person's hair, and that person's job and that other person's friends, and someone else's degree. And then I think of myself as worse off not realizing that the person with good job might not have the good hair or the good friends...and I can't be down because I'm not a composite of everyone else's good qualities and fortune.

I also compare when adjusting to new cultures. Somehow this is my processing method. When I first got to Canada, I found myself saying "well, in Costa Rica we don't do it this way" or "oh, that's different here, in Costa Rica....." and I became so annoyed at myself! I didnt want to always bring up Costa Rica but that was my natural frame of reference and this new cultural HAD to be viewed in the perspective I'm coming from.

Travelling also brings out this constant comparison. When I go to new countries I have to place them on spectrum. Where does it fall on the First World/Third World line. Are there enough parks and coffee shops that i could live here? Do I feel as safe/safer/less safe than in Costa Rica/Canada. Etc etc.

This helps to not lump countries from a similar region together. For instance, between the Phillipines and Vietnam I'm seeing a huge difference that I never thought I would. In small things and big.

For instance, Manila seems much more poor than Ho Chih Minh. The posh areas of Makate are cloisetered away far from the squalor of the Manila proper and I feel much more on edge there. Vietnam on the other hand, seems much more relaxed and approachable. Ironically, it is Manila that is littered with Starbucks, even in the worst areas while HCMC seems to have bigger "indie" coffee shop culture. And although it was nice to order something and know what you're getting (I haven't had a decent iced latte in a long time since Costa Ricans don't seem to know the meaning) I do enjoy poking my head into little corners here and discovering charming cafes. I have learned to stipulate NO SUGAR when ordering Vietnamese iced coffee...a few mouthfuls of pure sugars taught me that.

I just forgot what point I was making. If I remember, I'll edit this. meanwhile, off to explore Saigon!