On
Saturday night I babysat a couple of kids. They were really sweet, and it was a
lot of fun. The little girl and I played Candyland together, which was fun
because Candyland doesn’t require any talent, just luck. Well, the little girl
thought that Queen Frostine was beautiful and she kept looking at the Queen
Frostine card. “Oh, she’s wonderful!” she said (which was adorable, because she
has a sweet little girl voice). As she and I were playing Candyland, I got to a
point in the game where I was about to win. I was near the finish line when she
told me, “Here! I want to pick out a card for you!” I don’t know if you’ve
noticed this, but little kids are cheaters. They cheat unabashedly, even when
you call them out on it. When the little girl told me that she was going to
pick out a card for me, I knew that it would send me back so she could win, so
I groaned when she handed me the Queen Frostine card. And then she asked me why
I was sad, because Queen Frostine was pretty. I then realized that she had
given me that card, not because she wanted me to lose, but because Queen
Frostine was her favorite.
This
leads me to the point I’m trying to make. Do not assume. Don’t assume that
someone is trying to be mean, don’t assume that someone is trying to embarrass
you. People just don’t think about what they say sometimes. We’re not
responsible for what others say, only for how we react and speak back to them.
The next time someone says something that makes you angry, try and see if they
were actually being mean, or if they just misspoke. It will make your life
easier.
