It's a sad fact but many Filipinos are very balat-sibuyas or onion-skinned. This means that the person is too sensitive to criticisms, disagreements and insults. This may even result to throwing a temper tantrum in public, writing terrible comments, threatening the welfare of the other person or even using physical acts of violence against people. What may have been aggravated the fight any further because somebody is pretty much onion-skinned. That can also happen while calling the kettle black. Let's discuss how having a balat-sibuyas attitude is actually a source of useless daily conflicts.
I'm not saying having a very offensive sense of humor should be considered as acceptable behavior or it's something to be proud of. If having an offensive sense of humor drives conflict then so does having a balat-sibuyas outlook in life. A lot of conflicts escalate all because somebody is really overly emotional. I remembered how a lot of my own conflicts happen because I allowed my injured pride to get the best of me. The problem is that many Filipinos have their "Must defend my Pinoy Pride." mindset which only escalates conflicts even among their fellow Filipinos. That's because some Filipinos actually hate the whole idea of Pinoy Pride knowing that it won't help the Philippines.
That balat sibuyas creates conflict over the smallest of matters. Many problems end up because somebody doesn't know how to handle disagreement, opinion differences or petty insults. Some people even tell me to stop sharing my views because it's hurting people without even telling me the specifics. Many people don't even bother to read posts properly before commenting because they're supposedly "too hurt" to read it properly. They only care about their "hurt feelings" rather than think with their brains. While the heart is important but the brain is just as important. Isn't it any wonder why a lot of Get Real Philippines' posts are usually a war zone no thanks to balat sibuyas people? Just one good example of that post is entitled, "Why I am not proud to be a Filipino." Try reading through the cancerous comments if you can take the heart attack! That's why I moderate comments here because I don't want to give such people any more power than they already have. It's not out of cowardice but prudence. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out that you don't open your house to thieves and robbers by not locking it when nobody's around.
What may even aggravate an issue to the point that physical violence gets involved might be because of somebody who's balat-sibuyas. It's really stupid to use violence to avenge one's bruised ego. I wonder if fraternity wars going on are also aggravated by onion-skinned people. If that's true then as tough and manly these frat boys think they are but deep within they're just fragile and weak. Worse, somebody's life may be on the line all because of a petty insult or disagreement. Just imagine going to jail all because you decided to physically hurt someone who may have emotionally hurt you one way or another. It could be as stupid as somebody ended up going to jail for punching somebody who said something bad about Kris Aquino or for pointing out the mistakes Filipinos badly need to correct. The question is was it worth it going to jail over a conflict that could have been avoided if you only if weren't so onion-skinned?
Just think of all the wasted time and energy done all done for the sake of one's balat sibuyas outlook in life. It's just not worth it spending time giving in to one's emotional stupidity. Worse, such people may accuse so and so of being whiners when they're the whiners themselves.
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