And do you mean it?
I've been going out of my way to avoid using personal insults for a while, though sometimes I fail. (Sorry, Phil.) Even when an insult is not directed at me, it coarsens the argument for me, and in some cases invalidates it.
Every day I correct children (most of the time other people's) who insult and mock each other in my presence. The only change in behavior that insults and mockery have ever inspired are either withdrawal and depression or fistfights. Any conversions won this way are false, and any silence gained is sullen.
The difference between there and here is that, there, I can see the hurt in their eyes.
My sarcasm, I'm sorry to say, will never leave me, but I try to aim it at ideas and events rather than people. I would welcome a kind reminder when I slip.
Current Events » in reply to It does take two sides to make a fight
Do you promise?
The whole thread (44 posts)
- Now that I've digested the election
- Also moving on
- Agreed.
- refreshing
- re: Now that I've digested the election
- That should have been "a glass is half full person"