The Best Comeback
Pixaby.com

The Best Comeback

?

A harsh reality hit me when I was seven years old.

?

My next-door neighbor “Jennifer,” a girl two years older than I, announced that she and her family (mother, father, and teenaged brother) talked about me at their dinner table. Jennifer didn’t need to elaborate for me to comprehend that they were not singing my praises. However, to be sure I understood the nature of their discussions, Jennifer stated, “You always act like such a baby!”

?

That was the first time I learned of someone disparaging me behind my back.

?

Granted, like almost every other child, I had been called many names to my face: meanie, chubby, and crybaby, to name a few. While I can’t claim to have handled those moments with grace, I gained some satisfaction from responding—e.g., by “telling on” the aggressor(s), defending myself, attacking back, or chanting, “I’m rubber and you’re glue, so what you said bounced of me and stuck to you!”

?

Digesting Jennifer’s newsflash, I felt her family’s dinner-table conversation materializing as a dark, shameful aura that attached itself to me. Although I wanted to ignore the revelation, doing so would not dispel their opinions of me. I couldn’t block out a vision of the four of them pointing their fingers and laughing at me. Most unsettling was the notion that the adults—who’d always appeared to consider me a pleasant, well-behaved child—had been faking their feelings.

?

What could I possibly do or say to shake off the embarrassment?

?

I wanted to continue playing with Jennifer. More so, I didn’t want to be left out when she and my sister, a year older than I, were having fun. Coming up with all sorts of outdoor activities, such as exploring my family’s wooded lot and creek adjacent to our yard, climbing trees, riding bikes, bouncing on a gigantic rubber tire in Jennifer’s yard, and playing hide and seek, we had a blast. At times, Jennifer’s brother would join us, and while arguably a little too old to take part in our games, he always presented exciting ways to enhance them. Thankfully, his involvement didn’t lead to any broken bones!

?

With Jennifer’s pronouncement hanging over me, I went home and told my mom. Her initial reaction was to criticize their judgment. Why would they waste their precious time together at dinner to gossip about a child? That was childish!

?

Seeing that her disapproval of them didn’t help me feel any better, she said, “Oh, they just wish they had a smart, beautiful little girl like you in their family. They can’t stop thinking about you, and that’s why they’re talking about you!”

?

Not buying her pitch, I pushed for something to say to Jennifer when she brought up the subject again. “If she says something like that again,” my mom finally offered, “tell her that it’s so nice to know I’m such an interesting topic of conversation.”

?

Repeating my mom’s comeback to myself, I decided it was brilliant. Knowing that I knew they talked about me would make them feel silly about doing it. Also, if the seven-year-old next door would happily take center stage in their kitchen, they wouldn’t take so much joy in conjuring her spirit with their gossip.

?

I couldn’t wait to drop the line, but the opportunity wasn’t presenting itself during my next encounter with Jennifer. Impatient, I said, “Do you remember when you said your family talked about me at the dinner table? I’m glad I’m such an interesting topic of conversation!”

?

Jennifer retorted, “Oh, we stopped talking about you. You’re not that interesting.”

?

Not that interesting? Once again, I was defeated. Or was I?

?

In the middle of ruminating over the fact that Jennifer and her family were dishing on me while serving up their meatloaf and mashed potatoes, until becoming bored with me, I had an aha moment.

?

Their conversation had centered around my age-related deficits. In all honestly, at times, I couldn’t keep up and whined about being unable to jump over the creek, climb to the higher tree branches, or ride my bike as fast. Those instances would annoy Jennifer, making her wish I didn’t have to tag along. If I couldn’t play, however, neither could my sister.

?

Yes, my sister and I had our separate friends, but when it came to running around outside with neighbors, she and I were a package deal. Since Jennifer’s family did not have two kids of the same gender close in age, they weren’t focused on why ditching me, leaving me to play alone, would be hurtful. (Considering that her older brother occasionally joined in, I believe Jennifer’s family would have been more empathetic if they were in our situation.) Besides, my “big” sister generally liked having me around—sometimes to boss!

?

Nevertheless, when I thought about the situation objectively, I couldn’t blame them. If I wanted to play with the older kids, I should act accordingly. No whining! If I stopped crying, “Wait for me!” and started peddling faster, I’d catch up sooner.

?

Importantly, I realized, if didn’t like what others were saying about me, whether it was behind my back or to my face, I should be honest in determining if they were justified. In other words, were they reacting to something I was saying about myself through my own words and/or actions?

?

The best comeback, I learned, was to communicate that I was mature enough to be part of the group. My PR campaign was not an overnight success, but it gained traction over time. Through my conscientious commitment to altering their views, my audience stopped seeing me as the baby or referring to me as one.

?

Thank you, Jennifer, for talking about me at the dinner table, telling me about it, and forcing me to realize that people could be paying attention to how I spoke and behaved even when I wasn’t.

?

Sallie W. Boyles, a.k.a. Write Lady

?

Thoughts or questions? Please contact Sallie Boyles, owner of Write Lady Inc., to exchange ideas about effective communications and gain from professional writing and editing services. Receive monthly tips and insights by subscribing at https://WriteLady.com.

Robert Evans Wilson, Jr.

Award-Winning: Personal Empowerment Speaker and Freelance Copywriter; a storyteller who delights and inspires all audiences.

7 个月

Awesome perspective. I know that my younger son had to quickly learn to toughen up if he wanted to play with his brother, who was three years older, and his friends. They would push and punch him and he learned to push and punch back. By the time he was in school he never had a problem with bullies like my older son had. Sadly our experiences as children of being talked about, name called, or bullied tends to have lasting effects. We develop protective personas and limiting beliefs that can hold us back in life. I once wrote: "We are constantly told to conform. When we don’t conform, we are frequently chastised or shunned by our friends, family, and classmates. Those early days of peer pressure and the associated fear of being taunted, laughed at, or bullied stay with us well into adulthood. And, that fear of what other people think of us, can keep us from taking risks. But, we shouldn’t let that happen, because as American businessman Olin Miller observed, 'You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do.'” ??

要查看或添加评论,请登录

Sallie Boyles的更多文章

  • The Downfall of False Equivalences

    The Downfall of False Equivalences

    What’s wrong with comparing two different things to make a point? Drawing parallels between A and B can be effective in…

    2 条评论
  • Read the Room

    Read the Room

    When people say, “Read the room,” what comes to your mind? Although the opposite can be true, my first thought is that…

    2 条评论
  • A Gift for a Stranger

    A Gift for a Stranger

    When have you selected gifts for people you didn’t know? Maybe some of the following examples apply: · Fulfilling a…

    4 条评论
  • Alligators as Pets

    Alligators as Pets

    What do you think of adopting an alligator as a pet? Decades ago, souvenir shops sold baby gators in aquariums to…

    2 条评论
  • Word Games

    Word Games

    Do you enjoy playing word games? When it comes to word challenges like Scrabble, Bananagrams, and Wordle, I’ll…

  • Watch the Grass

    Watch the Grass

    Have you ever had positive feelings about something until encountering a reason to be leery of it? Did you back away or…

    6 条评论
  • A Lingering Taste

    A Lingering Taste

    When have you taken a bite of a food that you’d typically appreciate based upon the ingredients yet were disappointed…

    2 条评论
  • A Puppy Command for People

    A Puppy Command for People

    Have you ever trained a puppy? On and off, since I was six years old, dogs have been part of my life. Picking a…

    8 条评论
  • To Hear a Pin Drop

    To Hear a Pin Drop

    When was the last time you could have heard a pin drop in a crowded room while someone was speaking? Did the message or…

  • Is the Customer Always Right

    Is the Customer Always Right

    Is “the customer is always right” an outdated principle? While growing up in my parents’ retail business, I heard those…

社区洞察

其他会员也浏览了