Words cut deep

"You look like an idiot in that car!!!"

Yeah, that's what some guy who was probably in his late teens shouted to me when I pulled out of a parking lot the other day. He was walking along the road with a bunch of his friends who all laughed when he said it.

'Stick and stones... blah blah blah.' -- that phrase is a bunch of crap. Words hurt.

Now, to be quite frank, while I may sometimes think that I look like this while driving my little 1996 Miata...
...this one may very well be more accurate...
...anyway.

Regardless of whether or not I look ridiculous doing anything, words like that have an effect. Of course, I know that I shouldn't take the guy seriously, and I know that he probably doesn't get how much words affect people, and doesn't yet get that there is a cost to making yourself feel good in front of your friends... but it still had an impact.

I wanted to turn the car around and ask him what kind of car he drove...

I wanted to turn the car around and ask him what the point of saying that was...

I wanted to turn the car around and tell him that HE was an idiot...

But I didn't. I looked in the car mirror and silently asked myself if I truly did look like an idiot driving the car, decided to try to shake off the deep feeling that guy brought to the surface -- those deep feelings that the guy in all of his thoughtlessness probably didn't give a second thought to -- and drove on to The Orchard to get a couple of hours of work done.

Obviously after 15 or 20 minutes I got over it -- but please... keep this in mind:

Even seemingly harmless words cut much deeper than you think -- whether you are giving those words, or receiving them.

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