Don't let the bastards get you down!

On Being Embarrassed

I used to live with someone who said I embarrassed her. Now, how can I possibly embarrass anyone but myself? She could not grasp that concept. She was not capable of any self reflection that might give her a clue that what she was really doing was throwing her discomfort onto me. Her profound lack of a sense of humor, the ability to be playful, the resistance to anything not within her limited idea of the "right way to act" in public she believed gave her the right to scold me for not following her parameters of behavior. Of course she's not the only one like that. When people are uncomfortable about how someone else is acting, they feel it is their duty to correct those of us that feel free to express ourselves. If we do not follow their pre-determined set of values, behaviors, and expressions they feel compelled to set us right. Well, fuck them! I am really sick of being stifled, controlled, manipulated and scolded by these self appointed hall monitors that think they know what's right for everyone.

I was recently at an event where my date and I had an incredible time. My date expressed herself beautifully on the dance floor (appropriately, I should add). Someone from her work saw her and reported to her boss that she "embarrassed herself". That was news to the both of us. Neither one of us realized that she should be embarrassed. But, this person, of course, knew better than us. We discussed it and could think of absolutely no reason to be embarrassed. Because this self appointed gestapo thought my date should be embarrassed, that is what got back to her boss who passive/ aggressively stopped scheduling her to work. Just because some uptight prude felt uncomfortable. As I said before, fuck those bastards with a cork up their asses who cannot handle people who express themselves differently from what their narrow minds have decided is the right way.