the back burner

being unkind

I called out an acquaintance today.

I asked him about an interaction he had with another person in which he was more than a little unkind. I led him up to the truth as I saw it and then laid out on the table how I thought that other person felt. My unkind acquaintance (who is actually usually much kinder than I am) gave me a blank stare, then justified his actions. He gave me several good reasons for not affirming or encouraging or even hearing the other person.

I thought it best to shift the conversation to another topic, so I might have the chance to get over being shocked and think. I'm still thinking.

I was tempted to react, to assume a soapbox preacher's position and deliver a powerful lecture on the importance of kindness in relationships, but it struck me that this friend's reasons for being unkind were politcal, economic, and culturally sensitive in nature. In fact, his reasons match a lot of the m.o. I am asked to assume as a "worker" in a "sensitive area." I do not wish EVER to be unkind or misleading for the sake of being politically correct, but is that realiztic?

Humbug.