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So, last night I pissed off a friend by being flippant at precisely the wrong time. This person isn't pissed anymore, but it was a bad moment for me when I realised what I'd done.
Later that night, I was complimented, and dismissed it with a flippant remark that probably made it seem I didn't get the point of what was said.
I can't help but wonder how many false impressions I've created by that particular defense mechanism. I use flippancy all the time to cover my embarassment when people say something particularly nice to me; to cover akward moments where I'm not really sure what to say; and (most often) to prevent myself saying things that would only make it worse.
Not a good habit, especially when you're being relied on as a friend. Well, I've been looking for something else to work on in the Improve Mahdi project.
Side Note: I'm not exactly sure when the British spellings of words like "realise" came into my head. I'm sure it's something I did as an affectation in English term papers and it stuck, but I've only realised I do it lately. I'm inconsistent as hell, too: I still spell checks, color, and the like American, but words which in American have a Z and which in English have an S? I go with the S 99% of the time and rely on my PC's spellcheck to catch them before I go to publication.
One more piece of the wonderful weird that is the Mahdi. :)
Later that night, I was complimented, and dismissed it with a flippant remark that probably made it seem I didn't get the point of what was said.
I can't help but wonder how many false impressions I've created by that particular defense mechanism. I use flippancy all the time to cover my embarassment when people say something particularly nice to me; to cover akward moments where I'm not really sure what to say; and (most often) to prevent myself saying things that would only make it worse.
Not a good habit, especially when you're being relied on as a friend. Well, I've been looking for something else to work on in the Improve Mahdi project.
Side Note: I'm not exactly sure when the British spellings of words like "realise" came into my head. I'm sure it's something I did as an affectation in English term papers and it stuck, but I've only realised I do it lately. I'm inconsistent as hell, too: I still spell checks, color, and the like American, but words which in American have a Z and which in English have an S? I go with the S 99% of the time and rely on my PC's spellcheck to catch them before I go to publication.
One more piece of the wonderful weird that is the Mahdi. :)
