“You’ve certainly been happy,” the woman said. “I can always count on you to cheer me up. You seem like you haven’t got a care in the world.”
I wasn’t sure I’d heard her correctly. I was in the middle of a conversation with someone who I see a couple of times a week. She’s bright and mature enough — at least 50 years old — to have experienced a lot of life. She’s no dummy. As a restaurant owner, she deals with people constantly — and she knows me pretty well from our frequent conversations.
We had been talking about how it’s easy to tell how unhappy some people are. She chose me as the counter-example to make her point. She said I always seem especially happy.
“What makes you think you know me?!” I wanted to scream.
It was an oddly alienating moment for me Friday night when this happened. Instead of lashing out, I just asked why she thought what she did. Then I briefly told her I’m actually quite miserable lately.
She thought I was kidding, so I dropped it.
Loss of respect for truth leads to remorseless liar’s excuses
Hateful assumptions are easier than actually thinking for yourself
Booing Ron Paul evidence that voters don’t want honest conversation
Why do we put off changes that might give meaning to our lives?
My pride and insecurity make it difficult for me to live in humility
Our inexplicable behavior ‘signals’ to the world who and what we are
Trendy ‘anti-racists’ don’t realize they’ve been conned by Marxists
Nobody can ever be good enough when perfection is the standard
When you can’t call one you love, silent phone just taunts your need