Words Hurt Man

On Friday I stayed at school for a couple extra hours in the late afternoon, and I had to be at the Junior League building to volunteer at 6:30. I had also recently gotten a $20 refund from my doctor's office (and how often does THAT happen?), I decided to treat myself to a manicure between school and volunteering.

My usual place is a bit out of the way, so I decided to go to a place that was really close to my volunteer site.

And, oh, how I wish I hadn't.

My manicure looks great, no problems there. No, the problem was with my encounter. Please, read on.

So this older guy starts doing my nails, and he asks me if I had been at work that day. I say yes, and then he asks me what I do. So I proudly tell him that I am a teacher! (I love being able to say that so much, by the way.) His reply?

"Oh, that's great, you get so much time off!"

Yep. You got it, sir. That is exactly the reason I am a teacher. However did you guess?

It only went downhill from there. Next, he asked if I was married. I said no. Then he asked me if I had a boyfriend (not sure why any of this is his business, by the way), and I said no. So he said:

"Ohhhhhh, still single?"

I mean REALLY. Like being single is some sort of marriage waiting room, not an actual real life. So I say, "Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

I thought that was a nice way of getting him to change topics (or shut up), but I was wrong. Because THEN he said:

Him: "Well, you're probably not as old as my daughter. She's 26."
Me: "Actually I'm 31."
Him: "REALLY?! REALLY?!"
Me: "Um, yeah, I wouldn't lie about it. That's my age."
Him: "Well you should really think about having a baby because 32, 33, 34 -- that's about how long you have."

I. MEAN. REALLY. REALLY?!?!?!?!?!?

So I didn't say anything because, you know, if you can't say anything nice ...

Turns out that doesn't always help because apparently it encourages the other person to keep talking. Which this guy did. And he said, "Well, don't you want to have a baby?"

And it was at this point that I said, "I do not want to talk about it."

Guys.

GUYS.

No. No. No. No.

And I know you might say that I was overreacting or whatever, but words hurt man. I don't care what sticks and stones say.

I guess, though, it did serve as a good reminder that WORDS HURT MAN, and I need to be careful about what and how I say things to other people. You never know what people are sensitive about or having problems with.

*(Oh, and when someone tells you they're a teacher, it's NEVER okay to reply with, "That's great, you get so much time off!")