When did this become tolerable?

I suprised myself with how infuriated I became with them.

 

Well for one thing, you have to read and think about what people say before you decide it is bullshit. Unbelievably quite a few things that I once thought were bullshit turned out to be true. As a PS, you might want to do a web search on The Age of Absurdity it has been around for a while and is the title of a very good poem.

 

as is shown in this thread, people have different definitions of acceptable personal space. what is unacceptable to verseau would be quite welcomed by another person (and probably is, which is why those ppl who come up to give you a random joke do it, wouldn't you think? or maybe they are trying to make a new friend?...) in other cultures ppl's personal space is much smaller than in english and american cultures.

i agree with what hippypaul said...how are you to know when something is bullshit? are you saying we should speak without thinking? if you feel offended or wronged should the first thing out of your mouth be an insult or maybe a question about what happened? what's more productive really? throwing out whatever's on your mind at any given moment isn't gonna work either because some ppl are naturally cheerful and you don't approve of that right?

i don't remember who said it... but i agree with the need to establish some respect and kindness before giving out insults. some ppl are sensitive. some ppl have bad days. and some ppl don't listen, so calling their bullshit isn't going to make a difference. establishing respect for a person (even if only briefly and even while you're pointing out something you disagree with) is going to make the conversation go a little more smoothly.. i.e. the other person is more likely to take what you have to say into consideration. in most cases, it's more likely to have a positive impact.

all that being said, i don't think there is anything wrong with standing up for yourself or something you believe is right, but there is such a thing as tact. my mom tends to go overboard in the politeness sometimes... for example, she was discussing a problem between her daughter (not me) and her best friend's daughter, and while she knew that her daughter was in the right she was trying to take such a neutral stance that she ended up defending the other girl, but luckily her friend was not in her normal mood and totally disagreed with my mom, saying her daughter was totally in the wrong and to stop defending her. in this case, my mom could have respectfully defended her daughter.. she didn't need to call the other girl a bitch or get nasty, but should have shared her opinion (especially with someone who knows has her respect).

in short- i think you have every right to say what you feel, share your opinions, stand up for yourself and your morals, but rudeness is *usually* going to be counterproductive.

 

As is usual with you Tigerlily that was well said.