Like the fact that the man who came up with the concept of bottled water is a genius (an a multi-millionaire living somewhere on a tropical island).
Leopards never change their spots.
Dr. X will never, ever take out the trash without being asked first.
Life is unfair.
Once a newly expanded freeway is completed, it only serves to make traffic more congested, not less.
And people, well, they never cease to amaze. OK, sorry, so that's more than several truths - my veracity is exponential. Call me naive, too. I just am continually surprised by human behavior. Reactions and responses to the simplest things blow my mind.
Take for instance a conversation I heard about over the weekend, regarding two women I know who put together an amazing volunteer-driven event. A volunteer approached these women and said, "You know, this was great. I had really low expectations that this would turn out OK, but you guys did a good job."
Are you kidding me?
I love straight shooters. People who are confident and painfully honest, and get right to the point can come and sit next to me any day. But there's got to be a filter in there somewhere. There's a fine line between telling it like it is and being flat-out rude.
I'm not sure that we do much as a society to encourage the filter anymore. Gheesh, look at the Grand Lady of Social Stalking (er, networking) - Facebook. There's no filter there. Every day I glance at what my dearest friends and family members are doing at any given moment - be it baking cookies, potty training, or picking their nose. Yeah, there's no filter involved when you find out who spent their day vomiting up their breakfast due to a whopping case of stomach flu. Or who is admitting to their failings as a parent with repeated visits to the nearest fast-food restaurant. Or subversive attacks on political views through snarky messages. Insert filter, please. I don't need to know these things and, even if I did, they could be said so much better in other ways.
I love straight shooters. People who are confident and painfully honest, and get right to the point can come and sit next to me any day. But there's got to be a filter in there somewhere. There's a fine line between telling it like it is and being flat-out rude.
I'm not sure that we do much as a society to encourage the filter anymore. Gheesh, look at the Grand Lady of Social Stalking (er, networking) - Facebook. There's no filter there. Every day I glance at what my dearest friends and family members are doing at any given moment - be it baking cookies, potty training, or picking their nose. Yeah, there's no filter involved when you find out who spent their day vomiting up their breakfast due to a whopping case of stomach flu. Or who is admitting to their failings as a parent with repeated visits to the nearest fast-food restaurant. Or subversive attacks on political views through snarky messages. Insert filter, please. I don't need to know these things and, even if I did, they could be said so much better in other ways.
I don't look at the world through rose-colored glasses. Never have, never will. I don't need things glossed over for me. But I do appreciate kindness, discretion and a well-crafted message.
Stop. Think. Listen. Then respond. And, OK, then get on Facebook, or your blog, or bring it up in conversation, and tell everyone you ate your weight in Hostess cupcakes before passing out for 12 hours because it was the worst day ever in the history of the world.
Just remember to use the filter.
Just remember to use the filter.
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