![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Pro-Tip for Conversations
Jun. 7th, 2012 08:36 pmIf, in the course of conversation, you say something that offends another person, or makes him/her uncomfortable and they ask you to please stop, the proper response is to say, "I'm sorry," and either walk away or drop the conversation entirely. Hell, you don't even have to say, "I'm sorry." You can just say, "Okay," and move on to other stuff.
Respect the boundaries people put up. Listen to me when I say, "No, stop," and respect that whatever bigoted/offensive opinion (and yes, it is bigoted/offensive) does NOT need to be heard.
If I say "NO. STOP." about ANYTHING and you ignore it, how can I trust you and keep you around? I ask you to stop because it makes me uncomfortable, makes me feel angry, and yes, even offends me. I respect you and your boundaries, the least you can do is the same for me. Your right to say anything doesn't supercede my right to decline to hear it. I am not your word-vomit bag.
*sigh* The thing is, he was an all right guy until he decided to talk about something other than Star Wars or WoW. But when I ask to stop, he just couldn't keep his mouth shut and I got a lovely little homophobic rant with additional, "Well maybe it's different in the Bible Belt, but here in New York there's no homophobia!" (Essentially what he was driving at, while totally missing the entire point of the thing he was complaining about.)
Now I'm so eager to hear about how I'm ~too sensitive~ and need to lighten up, or how I'm so wrong. My block button is ready.
Respect the boundaries people put up. Listen to me when I say, "No, stop," and respect that whatever bigoted/offensive opinion (and yes, it is bigoted/offensive) does NOT need to be heard.
If I say "NO. STOP." about ANYTHING and you ignore it, how can I trust you and keep you around? I ask you to stop because it makes me uncomfortable, makes me feel angry, and yes, even offends me. I respect you and your boundaries, the least you can do is the same for me. Your right to say anything doesn't supercede my right to decline to hear it. I am not your word-vomit bag.
*sigh* The thing is, he was an all right guy until he decided to talk about something other than Star Wars or WoW. But when I ask to stop, he just couldn't keep his mouth shut and I got a lovely little homophobic rant with additional, "Well maybe it's different in the Bible Belt, but here in New York there's no homophobia!" (Essentially what he was driving at, while totally missing the entire point of the thing he was complaining about.)
Now I'm so eager to hear about how I'm ~too sensitive~ and need to lighten up, or how I'm so wrong. My block button is ready.
