It bothers me when people put words in my mouth. This afternoon I was in the kitchen making lunch and a bunch of other people were around, just eating and talking and such. Then one of the neighbours came in (this is normal because I live in a dorm, just in case you were wondering why my neighbours wander into my apartment) and offered us cupcakes. I said "I can't eat cupcakes" (and, granted, my tone of voice was a bit hostile because of general stress and annoyance in my life right now). Then this other girl who was visiting my roommate says "What she meant was 'Thank you very much, but I don't want one' "). My jaw literally dropped as I thought to myself "No way did she just say what I think she said. Seriously. How can you assume you know what I meant, particularly when my actual words contradict your assumption? Uhm, no. What I meant was what I said. Please do not attempt to correct me. Particularly in that condescending way. Seriously. That is how people talk to children. "Did you mean 'May I have a cookie'?" It seriously made me super angry. I had to just walk away, but I was fuming. In fact it still irks me. Clearly it bothered me enough to inspire an entire blog post. But seriously, just let me speak. And stop putting words in my mouth.
I thought a photo of a script was appropriate for this particular topic of conversation. This one is Competition Piece by John S. Wells. I've never read it. I just borrowed it from my roommate to take a picture of it specifcially for this. Yes, that is how much this situation bothered me. Not only did I write an entire post about it, but I also deliberatly took a picture for said post.
It seems as if she was just trying to be cute and lighten the mood after you were so rude. Do you think she was trying to correct your sentence structure or correct your attitude?
ReplyDeleteI think she was trying to correct my attitude. Either way though, I dislike how she went about doing it. It is not so much that she took exception with what I said or how I said it. I realize it was not the best response in the world. I just wish that she had either said nothing or called me out on it in a straightforward manner. It's her patronizing tone that irked me more than anything. I actually did say what I meant to say in that moment, whether or not she felt it was appropriate is her issue.
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