Funny how a little sugar coating gives people the idea that they can say anything they want. In the South, the phrase "Well bless his/her/their heart(s)" is popular. However, do not be fooled. This is no ordinary invocation of a blessing upon someone's soul. No, no. What this actually is in fact, is a free ticket to say whatever you really feel about that person, while still making yourself look like a saint. "Well, bless his heart, it's a good thing that modern medicine will be able to cure that horrible facial structure" or "Bless her heart, if it weren't for her cheating on those standardized tests, she never would have made it out of first grade because she's so stupid bless her heart" or even "Hey, um I really don't mean to offend you, but did you know that your face looks like it was stepped on by a horse and then spit upon by a llama? But really, I don't mean to offend you." If you make a heart-blessed sandwich or say I don't mean to offend enough, you could insult Castro and still come out on top.
I bring this up because today, I had a meeting with a certain client that we will call "The richest, quite possibly most arrogant man I've ever met in real life" or how about Rich for short? Anyway, he starts off a sentence by saying "Hey, by the way, I really don't mean to offend you or anything, but..." and then proceeded to say something that to me was not particularly offensive, mostly because I'm not that easily offended, but was something that someone could have easily been upset by. No big deal, but it did make me think about how often people think that if they cushion what they really want to say with enough words, it will change the meaning. Note to Everyone: it really doesn't.
So that's the story for the day. The Moral? just keep it to yourself.
2 comments:
people say bless his heart alot when they are talking about me. should i probably pay more attention to what they are saying?
ps- this is what the alphabet would look like without q or r
Gil!
I liked your story, I totally agree with you, I think people put disclaimers like that on the front of sentences, so they will not feel badly for being so mean, but we know it is just a cover-up.
Listen to what a customer said to me the other day on the phone Customer: "I am a sweet person, and I act sweet, so I have enjoyed talking to you, another sweet person. You are so sweet, you must be from up north?" Me: "No I was raised in the south,"
Customer: "Well, I could have sworn you were raised up north, you are so sweet..." Me: Nope, here in SC...(I wanted to hang up on her) gotta love customer service!!
Hope you are doing well. miss you!
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