Referee Me

I've been leafing through the pages of my old photo albums looking for any evidence that I came out of my mother's womb with a whistle attached to my mouth; that before I learned how to do 'close-open' with my small chubby fungers, I knew how to do the 'peace' sign. I swear I'm born with this natural talent of smashing two people's heads together, for them to come to a compromise. I hate conflicts, although it is but inevitable.

Ever since I became part of a 'barkada', I've been dubbed as the harmonizer, the referee. I carry the same whistle whenever I'm part of any group. Because I am a 'listener' and I used to dream of being a shrink, people find it easy to confide with me, especially if it had to do with negative feelings about somebody in a group. In 9 out of 10 cases, my client and other people involved are friends... and they're my friends as well.. not mere acquaintances... friends... my close friends.

The usual scenario: On the red corner, ranting about the spoiled, dictatorial, authoritative friend-slash-ka Org is Friendlaloo-Ka Org A. On the blue corner, raging about the judgemental, opinionated, 'kikay', social climber Friendlaloo-Ka Org A is Friendlaloo-Ka Org B. On the center, wearing yellow raincoat ang anti-saliva-projectile mask is... me.

I usually arrange for their face-to-face match.. err... peaceful confrontation, or at least try to explain the other party's side and why she/he reacted that way.

I just hate to see people fight because of their differences... differences that are innate, special, unique.. differences that can be compromised.. differences that can be an advantage for the group to see things, problems, solutions and alternatives from different POVs.