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A viral story spreading in my country is how a Filipino traveler bound for Israel was halted by immigration officials asking her all sorts of questions, like (1) if her parents are separated, (2) if she was a graduate or not. And when she said she was a graduate, the immigration official asked for her yearbook.

Imagine that. You're trying to catch a flight to another country, and the immigration official decides, "You can't go to your flight unless you show us your college yearbook from 10 years ago RIGHT NOW."

Because of so much questioning in immigration, she missed her $344+ flight and had to pay $489 for a new flight ticket.

The viral story has led others to share their own similar experiences with immigration officials. (More info on the story: https://philstarlife.com/news-and-views/541989-filipino-misses-flight-amid-immigration-questions-yearbook?page=3)

I'm sharing this here to highlight what I've said here before: Not everyone in this world can freely travel to other countries. You're lucky if you're from a country with a strong passport that allows you to breeze through immigration officials. A lot of us don't have that privilege. You could be a f'ng Ph.D. holder, and an immigration official can easily stop for a hour of questioning; for all we know, they might even ask you to explain in length what your dissertation is about. Heck, the example I gave was someone from the middle class who actually had money to spend (but not that much). How much more for regular folk?

Imagine if we just want to travel to wrestle someone. Imagine all of the questioning one has to undergo just to wrestle someone in another guy. Heck, if I said point blank that I'm traveling to another country to wrestle someone, the immigration official might question me by saying that I look too unfit and unmuscular to be wrestling, or I may be asked to give a impromptu oral essay on my wrestling style and whatever my previous matches were. And even then, that's no assurance that immigration officials will let you pass or not.

So yeah: traveling around the world is a privilege. If you have that privilege, enjoy it and make good use of it.

This is a sentiment I've had for a while now about this site, and it's only recently that I found the right words to express it.

It's true that we all came here to find opponents to wrestle or fight with for a variety of reasons. And I'm sure a lot of the newbies came here expecting to find opponents, especially with guys whom they want to fight against.

But the thing is: You can't always get what you want.

It's pretty much inevitable that you won't be able to wrestle all the guys you want to wrestle here. Distance is the biggest barrier. Apart from that, you have the problem of different interests. And, to be frank, preferences over body appearance and fight experience also come into play, whether we like to admit it or not.

Let's not also forget that the world right now is no longer the same world we were in a couple of years ago. (You know what I mean.) And that affects a lot of things around us, which I don't think I need to say.

There are times when you might get a chance to wrestle someone. But keep in mind that some people may get a lot of opportunities, while some will get little opportunities. Some people may need to work hard to get a single opportunity, while some people don't have to do anything to get so many opportunities.

So if you're a newbie here, don't expect too much. You can still hope, but you'll have to moderate your expectations based on your realities so that you won't be too disappointed and frustrated. This is how life works after all.

Besides, getting a wrestling match is more or less a want, not a need. Life's too short to worry about a dream match that you can live without.