There are certain people in the world who get affected by everything. People; what they say seems to resonate for years and years, they take things at face value, not realising that people speak without sincerity of intention.
“Oh of course you can come round whenever you like in years to come, when you’re married.”
This of course should mean that you are welcome in their home anytime in the future, in fact the invitation also extends to nearest kin and whoever else you might be with at the time. However, when put through the “random sentence” translator it means:
“You’re a nice person and everything, but a few years down the line we don’t really want to have anything to do with you, so please don’t try to contact us again. We may have to just delete your messages and not answer them.”
The people who take things at face value are affected by the hurtful comments people make, the way people look at them, the way people turn their backs to talk to the person next to them; in extreme cases these people are affected by the way potted plants stand so resolutely in the corner, glowering at them, leafy and proud. But only in very extreme cases.
In the case of regular sufferers of such sensitivity, they get heavily burdened with hurt whenever someone betrays them or slights them in any way.
Take the above example; rather than translate the sentence and interpret it to mean what it was intended to mean, they take it at face value and a few years down the line, they get back in touch with the said person, and (what a surprise) the person ignores them. Here’s the typical thought pattern that many of these scenarios follow:
Sensitive person: Hey, I’ll get back in touch with Mr John Doe and his wife; they always said they would be pleased to hear from me.
Mrs. Jane Doe: Oh a message from her. I can’t believe it. What does she want?
Sensitive person: Oh she’s not replied. Well, it’s ok, I’ll just post a message on one of her lovely photos on facebook, really casually.
Mrs. Jane Doe: For goodness sake, I’m going to sit here and delete her inane comments because I don’t want anything to do with her!
Sensitive person: I’ll just check back and see if there is a reply to my comment on facebook…oh, it’s been deleted. What have I done? Maybe it’s because I actually convinced her mother in law to let them go ahead with the marriage? Maybe I shouldn’t have convinced her to let her son (who I respect like an elder brother) marry this Jane Doe? If only she knew it was me who helped with the situation…but I can’t really tell her, because she won’t believe it anyway. And after all of that stuff about being welcome at their house and everything. I’m so upset.
The thought process can go on forever in the same vein, but the main point to be highlighted is that Mrs. Jane Doe is going to be held accountable for her actions just as we all are. Whatever her reason for “blowing off” this person, she’ll have to account for it some day; it may even be within this lifetime, it may be within the next lifetime.
Is there a moral to this tale? I guess there is. When you figure it out, let us all know!
