A person's level of intelligence, or smarts, should not be defined by how well they did in the formal institutes of learning, but by how well they cope with real life.

A certificate from an institute of learning only gets you as far as the front door of your job. It's what you do inside that door that determines whether you stay or go.

I's the same with real life. You can be a genius at your job but you might not even know which of your friends is going to screw you up later. I know of people who can recite the entire periodic table to me but they just don't seem to understand when I want them to back off!

I'm a very private person. There are lots of things that goes on in my head that I don't reveal. Little thoughts. Thoughts that I think might be insignificant to others. Thoughts that might be so huge that it can offend others. I reveal certain thoughts only to certain people. Right now, only Shook is privy to most of my thoughts. Even then, there are some I keep close to me.

Another thing I absolutely am almost fanatic about is my personal space. If I want to hug you, I'll make the first step. If I want to touch you, I'll make the first move. If I want to sit next to you, I'll sit next to you and face you. If I don't make the first move, or take the first step or if I turn away from you when I have to sit next to you, even an absolute moron will know I don't want to be anywhere near you! If you need to be told, then you need to be more aware of life around you!

My room and my house is my own sanctuary. It's always been a matter of courtesy for me to call someone and ask if I can come over to their house or I'll ask if I can go into their room. I never assume I can. Even now, I still call ahead or inform first if I want to go to Shook's house. And I have a key to that house!

And if I call and they say they're busy, then they're busy. What they're busy doing is really their concern. Not mine and not anyone else's. And this is usually the same courtesy I expect from a logical, thinking adult. I don't expect a dog or a cat to know when it can come into my house. I don't even expect a child to know although I've met children who do know. But I definitely expect it from my friends, my relatives and most adults I come across. If they cannot do even this minor thing, then not only do I wonder at their intelligence, or lack thereof, but I also wonder how they can be alive as long as they have!

Nobody has the right to assume they are always welcome in another person's house. I may say a person is welcome anytime because I am Asian and I was brought up to be polite and nice. But it does not mean anyone can just appear at my gate at anytime they like. People like this cannot live overseas because in places like the US, you might get shot for trespassing!

Granted that this may be how I run my life and not everyone is like me. But why run the risk of making people hate you by assuming they are not like me?

And when you think of it that way, 'assume' really does make an 'ass' of 'u' and 'me'.