OCR Text |
Show The worst things we can say Ours is a society of words. We use words to communicate feelings, information, queries, commands, etc. Because of the fast pace of our society, words are processed rather quickly.-.perhaps too quickly. And we sometimes make some pretty big mistakes. Some of us use too many words, and others struggle to get out even a few. And there are those people who use inappropriate words, or simply say the wrong thing at the wrong time. A few examples. H l rv SHERRI EINFELDT Correspondent A single person really cringes to hear, "You'll never understand till you have children of your own." I can attest that there are certain emotions emo-tions and experiences that come only with having a child of your own. But reminding people who are childless of that only rubs salt into an already painful wound. And who are we to judge what people can and can't understand? One-upmanship is always inappropriate, inap-propriate, but especially when discussing family relationships. Like the person with several children who says to a newlywed, "You'll have to hurry to catch up with me." As far as I'm concerned, bearing children is not a race. And except in cases of obvious abuse, there is no place for judging how others discipline or raise their children. Unless we've walked in another person's moccasins, we're in no position to judge their actions. We owe others the same right to individual in-dividual methods that we would like to be accorded in our own philosophies and practices. Then there's the sympathetic remark made with good intent but with horrendous results. The person who says to a couple who has just lost a young baby, "Well, better that she die at six months than at six years when you really loved her," has obviously never had the experience experi-ence of instant bonding to a newborn babe. There are those who would advise, if you don't know what to say in a difficult situation, don't say anything at all. Just offering offer-ing silent support can often be more meaningful. Our society is characterized by social and family relationships wherein people razz each other with regularity. Even though a little joking jok-ing around is usually light-hearted and innocent, all too often we forget the idiom that says, "There's a little truth in all humor." Some of the sarcastic remarks we make to our loved ones in jest can prove to be very hurtful, and done in excess can be very damaging to a person's self-esteem. No matter how many laughs razzing brings from a crowd, or how ironic it is intended in-tended to be, deep down inside most people would still prefer praise or a sincere compliment to degrading sarcasm. Then there are those who simply have no tact at all. Believe it or not, some human beings actually tell each other that they are fat, stupid, ugly, uncoordinated, etc. and seem to have no qualms about their bluntness. Yes, the truth often does hurt, and that's all the more reason we should be careful how and when we point it out. Words are important in our society, socie-ty, but even more important is the wise use of words. Maybe we need to recall the good ol' rule, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." And maybe we should add that before we do speak, we should carefully consider how our words may make the other person per-son feel. It would be grand to hear more of the best things we can say, rather than the worst things we can say. |