My life - Part 33

Human beings annoy me. I find most people to be liars and hypocrites. And then there are those who throw insulting remarks at you, while fooling themselves into believing that their remarks are complimentary or well intentioned or witty or funny, and they genuinely expect you to say "thank you" or laugh or tell them how clever they are, the stupid fools. And when you retaliate, they say you are rude. I always think that if you want to insult someone, whether subtly or otherwise, whether intentionally or otherwise, you better be damn sure that you can also receive an insult. Otherwise, as my parents always tell me, if you have nothing good to say, say nothing.

American client: You speak very good English.

Me: Thank you, so do you.

Lady boss: Don't worry about dying young. They say only the good die young. (Laughter/giggle)

Me: Is that why you're still here, too?

Uncle: You can't be so choosy. If the man is ok, just settle down.

Me: Is that what you did? 'Settle' for your wife?

Teacher in home education class: You will not be a good wife.

Me: And you will be the worst kind of mother-in-law.

These are just some examples of how I was provoked, and when I retaliated, I was said to be rude. I am anything but rude. My brothers and I were raised to be good, polite children and I like to think that we all are still good and polite. But there is a limit. If someone is about to slash you, there is no point in being polite, it is either fight of flight. The basic survival instinct. Self protection. I view all these comments as attacks, and so I defend myself. That is not being rude. It's called self defence.

But I must admit that I am extraordinarily defensive, and I didn't always used to be this way. When I think about why it is that I hate human beings so much, I must say that it was a series of incidents that occurred whilst in university that changed my perception of human beings, perhaps forever, so that I now have very little regard or sympathy for my fellow humans. In other words, I think all people are bad until proven otherwise.

But I have skipped ahead and missed a few chapters of my life!