Go ahead.
Call me annoying. Call me no fun. Call me whatever you want.
I have been friends with you for 10 years, maybe more. Ups and downs, but you never saw the things I saw. You never had the same experiences. I have realized that even when its a joke, or an impulse, or not hurtful to one person, it probably is to another person. Words are like phone numbers, everyone has their numbers that they know, that apply to them, that apply to people in their lives. each brings back memories and make people recall experiences. Some might be wonderful. Some might be painful. A meaningless number to someone could be a trigger to another, calling upon discomfort, insecurity, and pain. And you treat this words as just another sound, a culmination of meaningless letters that you throw around in whatever direction you feel fit. You don't think, or care. you don't know who you could be hurting. Because in reality, nobody hasn't experienced physical and emotional pain. Everyone has. I have. You have. I was there for you when you felt like giving up. When the rumors ran rampant, when everyone hated you and believed her. I told you to put down the razor and pick up the phone and talk to me, i would help you through it. You told me you were depressed. I believe you were.
I also believe that there are many ways one could become depressed. Depression can even stem from nothing traumatic, simply a chemical misbalance in the brain. But it can stem from experience. So when you carelessly shout
slut
Nigger
Faggot
feminazi
even if you don't mean it
even if you don't fully understand the poison rolling off your tongue
I don't bite my tongue. Because there very well may be 100 people around you biting theirs, trying not to show how the words hurt. I'm sure, I'm positive, that someone in your life has said something to you that made you feel like less than a person. And every time you throw careless hate to the wind, someone is catching a cold by standing silent and taking it. I won't do that. If you give me a choice between staying silent and standing up, I'm going to chose kindness, I'm going to choose tolerance. You can tell all your friends how feminists are nazis and how annoying I am for pointing out that your words are careless and hurtful. I will keep choosing to be the one who stands up and says something. If you decide that I am not someone you want spending time with, that's cool. Go spend time with people who aren't intelligent or brave or sensible enough to call you out on your shitty behavior. I will keep spending time with the people who understand what it is like to live in a world where every word can cause a thunderstorm, and you need to realize that sometimes it's not a joke. It's not a meaningless culmination of letters. It's a memory. It's a day where you couldn't walk down the hall without fear. It's a night where you hid in your room to avoid the poison. It's a time when you felt like giving up. The people that matter to me know, and I know, that a word means a whole lot. So say what you want about me. I know better than to listen.

YOU ARE READING
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عشوائيIf you have chosen to read this, thank you. I hope i can relate to things going on in your life and give some insight on how to get through hard situations. All stories are true, all thoughts are mine. -Sarah