Watch What You Say

Originally posted on Yahoo 360 on Saturday June 30, 2007 - 09:20pm (CDT)

terry is a good boy. He really is. He tries very hard to do his best every day. Sometimes he says something without thinking, though. We he does it always gets him in trouble.

Earlier this week I was not happy to hear his observation that a “typical female” is always on the phone. There are many terms for the fairer sex: woman, lady, girl, etc. I think referring to a woman or girl as just “female” is somewhat disrespectful. Animals are female, people are women or ladies. Calling a woman “female” in that tone is dehumanizing. Just plain rude.

It did not help matters that Terry and I talk on the phone quite frequently. He is one of 3 or 4 people outside of my family that I ever call. Did our frequent conversations mean he thought of me in that disparaging manner? Did he see me as some chattering airhead filling his ears with nonsense while he had better things to do?

I am all too aware that I have plenty of other things to do. Perhaps terry needed to see that, too. To that end I have focused on finishing up a number of projects. We have not chatted at all until this evening.

Later I will call him after an absence of several days.

Somehow I don’t think he will find that conversation the least bit “typical”.

Ms. Betty