Some people are just flat out rude. I’m not saying that I’m the sweetest person on earth and that I have never hurt anyone’s feelings before because that would be a lie, but seriously, think about how your words are going to affect other people. You can’t just go around running your mouth about whatever you happen to be upset about at that moment; you have to think about it before you say it.
“I’ve heard it a million times.” “It’s easier said than done.” Trust me, I’ve heard and used these excuses as many times as everyone else. However, excuses don’t make anyone feel better, and they certainly do not give you the right to just say hurtful words.
Saying “no offense” doesn’t mean that you honestly don’t want to offend them, it’s just a courteous way of saying, “I’m about to say something really mean and I don’t care if you get offended or not because I’m going to say it anyway.” This is just not acceptable.
Call me a hypocrite if you want because I’ve definitely said my fair share of hurtful things, but at least I’ve learned from them. For instance, earlier this year, I tweeted something that shouldn’t have been said at that time or place, and boy did I suffer the consequences. Unlike most people though, I learned my lesson and have not, and will not, make that mistake again.
The Golden Rule that we all learned in kindergarten was to “treat others as you want to be treated.” This is such an easy concept when you are six years old. When you are six you don’t have that cheerleader talking about your tacky clothes or that jock calling you a four-eyed geek. At that age, all you have to worry about is whether Jimmy takes your blocks or Sally throws sand at you. If only you could still just serve a ten-minute time-out and share a hug to make it all better. Unfortunately, the older you get, the worse the consequences are.
Sometimes, guilt is the worst consequence. Sometimes you say something you want to take back, but you can’t, and sorry isn’t always enough either. You just lost a friend because of a couple silly words that you shouldn’t have said. These are the type of things that you have to think about. It doesn’t feel too great to have someone tell you your new haircut looks funny or that “yo mama’s so fat…” so why would you say it to someone else? If you take nothing else from this article, just remember that although we are not in kindergarten anymore, the rules are still the same; it’s the consequences that have changed.