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Nov. 7th, 2003 10:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
timepiececlockSo this guy in my Aikido class that I often joke around with said tonight, "You are not tactful. You say exactly the wrong thing." His tone was sort of wondering observation.
I momentarily went all Cordelia!speak on him and replied, "Tact is half lying." Then I went to get my shoes. I came back and said to his confused face, "The other half is respect. So I'm half-tactful, actually."
I went home. I asked my parents, "Do you think I lack tact?"
They both wanted to know what prompted him to say it in the first place. I said I didn't know, that I hadn't thought I'd said anything particularly outrageous in the last 5 minutes. My mom pointed out that if it was unprompted, then it was rather tactless of him to just blurt it out with no context like that. Then she said, "I'm probably not the best person to ask, because I've been accused of that myself." I nodded a bit, because this was a bit true. My dad said to me, "Well, sometimes you come off that way, because you can be insensitive." Then he went on to talk about how this wasn't all that unusual for a 19 year old, but how I should try to be tactful because it doesn't cost me anything and it improves one's relationship with one's peers and relations.
Just to be argumentative, I said, "Why should I conform to how other people think I should behave? Being honest doesn't mean being mean, and I can be polite and still speak my mind." He went on, and I mostly stopped listening. Touche.
I momentarily went all Cordelia!speak on him and replied, "Tact is half lying." Then I went to get my shoes. I came back and said to his confused face, "The other half is respect. So I'm half-tactful, actually."
I went home. I asked my parents, "Do you think I lack tact?"
They both wanted to know what prompted him to say it in the first place. I said I didn't know, that I hadn't thought I'd said anything particularly outrageous in the last 5 minutes. My mom pointed out that if it was unprompted, then it was rather tactless of him to just blurt it out with no context like that. Then she said, "I'm probably not the best person to ask, because I've been accused of that myself." I nodded a bit, because this was a bit true. My dad said to me, "Well, sometimes you come off that way, because you can be insensitive." Then he went on to talk about how this wasn't all that unusual for a 19 year old, but how I should try to be tactful because it doesn't cost me anything and it improves one's relationship with one's peers and relations.
Just to be argumentative, I said, "Why should I conform to how other people think I should behave? Being honest doesn't mean being mean, and I can be polite and still speak my mind." He went on, and I mostly stopped listening. Touche.
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Date: 2003-11-07 11:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-07 11:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-07 11:23 pm (UTC)*flop flop*.....
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Date: 2003-11-07 11:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-07 11:35 pm (UTC)