Dealing daily in the world of IT has its hazards.
One of the most oft visited in my opinion is that of someone taking offense (umbrage, pique) at something communicated. Be it a stanza in an email, a snippet of an overheard conversation or an outright slight directed at someone else, our words can create a minefield for us that often affects our relationships.
If you know me, you know that I’m the last person to be preaching about the need for political correctness. I will leave adjusting your behavior to someone more qualified for correction. I will deal with the thing that’s easiest to change. Your personal perception.
Note the phrase used above was “take offense.” There’s no victim in that sentence. The person “offended” has decided that the intent of the author/speaker was to offend.
We, as the taker of offense, take upon ourselves the indignation and robe of the victim without ever talking to the alleged offender.
This frequently results in making us look the fool.
I don’t know about you, but I’d rather someone call me a flaming prat then to make myself look the fool.
At times, it can be difficult to discern. Especially in a day laden with email and text messages. There’s no body language in an email. Ten people could read the same email and come away with different opinions about what it actually meant, much less whether or not they were actively being offended.
I guess the long and short of this post is this; for the most part, we’re not important enough for people to actively try to offend us. The people who are really going to try are most likely going to be those closest to us and will want to be in your face when they offend you.
Don’t fret. They are out to get you, but you’re likely to see them coming.
I got yer comments here...