Monday, October 24, 2011

I'm practicing

So that last post was a smidge bitchy. Its been a rough weekend for various reasons and I've not been all that pleasant to be around.

I wish I could be bitchier in real life to be honest. I've had a couple of people in the past few weeks remark about what a "Southern Belle" I am, at least in the sense that I can be too nice. I've found that in being too nice, you become something of a liar and question avoider. Like a politician or a car salesman.

Someone asks "does this jelly doughnut make me look fat" and you say "hell no, jelly is good for you, all that...gelatin stuff...um, er, it has vitamins you know, good for the skin." But then again, you can't really say "dude, you are a total lard ass, and that jelly doughnut is not going to help matters". The easier answer is the first one and then we can all move on.

And so it goes. You say appropriate niceties to avoid conflict and hurt feelings. Unless you have an anonymous online persona. And then you can bitch about business names and what people choose to name their children. Ain't life funny?

2 comments:

  1. Keep practicing, honesty is good for you. I've always had a lot of admiration for people who are capable of telling things the way they are without getting in trouble. It's a great skill to have. One girl I worked with as a student was like that. There was a straightforwardness and an earnestness about her that made it OK for her to say lots of things most of us would never dare say.

    I can't say I'm particularly good at it though. Let's get together, we can be practice buddies! ;)

    Maybe it's just me... but whoever said that, I would think that the "Southern Belle" reference is a play on words. You know, the traditional sense, and the literal sense…

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  2. FT,

    Yes, there is a definite skill to that kind of diplomacy. I'm not sure how much of it is learned and how much of it is internal.

    I'm up for practice! ;)

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