if you haven't got anything nice to say...

don't say anthing at all.

this is a lesson i learned when i was a child- literally. i was perhaps five or six when my dad first said this to me. FIVE OR SIX. so naturally i am surprised when people say rotten things to one another. I'm even more surprised when i'm the recipient of rotten sentiment.

picture it- workplace, october 31, 06. three of us embark on what seems to be an inoccuous enough conversation about a particular hair product we've all tried. it's billed as a leave-in conditioner, but as it turns out a person has to apply heat to attain it's full benefit. Upon learning this, i mention that this is not a route i'll go, so it really wasn't too appealing to me. upon speaking these words, VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES quips, "Yes, and everyone knows that we can't get Ms. Kris to expend more than three steps for her hair".

sorry, but back the bus up. that just isn't ok. Firstly i do not leave the house looking like a bag lady, nor do i leave the house with uncombed hair. secondly, with those two salient points established, telling someone their hair is wrong is on the same level as telling them they are too fat!

What boggles the mind and hacks me off the most are three thoughts: one, this person thinks i'm too stupid to pick up what they're laying down; two, this person thinks it's ok to pick on other people (essentially being a bully); and three, this person thinks that since i'm lower on the work totem pole, i have no recourse (essentially i'm an easy target).

At what point are people going to be responsible for their own actions? I wonder why lots of other people in the world expect that they can say whatever comes to their lips with no consideration for its result and repercussions? Aside from the idea that insulting people, no matter how playfully is delivered is RUDE; Self preservation at least should cause a person to think before they speak- note that now i'm even less inclined to work with this person than i might have been before, because now i realize that they are kind of a jerk. who wants to work wih a jerk?

my personality is to be pissed off and hold a grudge. this is not something i will forget easily. but i will not pass it on. i will not stoop to the lowliness that got me into this snit in the first place. my dad's life lesson is one that i live by, and continue to strive to achive. If i haven't got anything nice to say i won't say anything at all; because no one likes a punch in the nose.