I say, "so what?"

“So what” - the two most powerful words currently in my vocabulary. I recently discovered how useful these words are especially when discoursing on contentious issues. So much so that I now consider “so what?” as my first line of defense whenever it’s appropriate, which is usually when my views and personality are being attacked. I’ll give you some examples.

The novel “Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown is postulating that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and that they had a daughter, blah, blah, blah. Scandalous? No, not for me. I say, “so what?”. If it’s proven true, such assertion doesn’t diminish in any way my belief in Christ. It’s only proof that He became man just like us. Besides, what’s wrong with being a family man?

Then I met a born-again Christian who loves to criticize Catholics. He likes to joke about Catholic priests who gamble, drink, or womanize or are gay. This is his way of luring you to debate on Catholic vs Christian issues. His trap won’t work for me. I say “so what?”. I go to church not because of the priest but because it’s my way of worshipping my God. True faith should not depend on the people running the Church. You can lose faith in a person, but you shouldn’t lose faith in your God.

Here in NZ, Auckland is the largest city, but Wellington is the capital. Wellingtonians won’t admit it but I know they’re jealous of Aucklanders. Wellingtonians manifest this jealousy through jokes about the Auckland weather, traffic, and whatever. I say “so what?”. I’m not bothered by the rain nor the traffic. The rain keeps the city green. Go to Manila and experience what “traffic” really means.

The Aussies and the Poms simply love to bash us Kiwis (New Zealanders). Kiwi-bashing - it’s one of their favorite past times. For example, they make fun of the kiwi accent. “Fush un chups”, “sux”, “see-been” (how kiwis say “fish and chips”, “six”, “seven”). I say “so what?”. The accent don’t bother me. In fact, I find it rather cute. Hearing the kiwi accent for the first time made me realize how we in the Philippines, especially in Manila, should not laugh at the accents of our other kababayans, like the Visayans, Ilonggos, etc.. One’s accent is part of one’s identity. We should, therefore, be proud of our regional identity and not be dictated upon by others.

So the next time someone attacks your views or makes fun of you or throw insults at you, repel their insults by making your first line of defense to say “so what?”.