Off the cuff remarks.

One of the easiest things in life is to open our mouths and say something without thinking of what it is we are saying. If somebody else agrees with you or finds what you have said funny before you know it somebody has become the butt of all jokes.

I once worked beside a lad of my own age, his name was Barry. Barry had his problems, he was slow on the uptake. What to some people seemed like a simple task took Barry a bit longer to work it out, but having grasped what he was being asked to do he dis so with everything he had. 

One day somebody made a comment about him. “Room temperature IQ, that one” 

Everybody found it very funny, and before long Barry became the one who people poked fun at.  It became the simple way of saying to everybody, " I am one of you I am not like Barry."

Over the few years, I worked with Barry I heard many things said about him and I am sorry to say, I should have defended him more often but said nothing. Here are one or two of the things I heard said that come to memory.                  

1. One short of a six-pack.
2. Bright as Alaska in December
3.  If brains were taxed he would get a rebate.
4.  Posses the wisdom of youth and the energy of old age.
5. He must have got into the gene pool while the lifeguard wasn’t watching.
6. He reached rock bottom long ago – and then he kept digging.
7. The doors are open, the lights are on, but nobody is at home.
8. He is depriving some village of an idiot.

So it went on. A book could have been written of all the little quips that people came up with about Barry, and we only have to read a few to realise how cruel people were.

I liked Barry, and I have many fond memories of him and have in the past few days made an effort to find if he is still around. 

He was the only one who always had a kind word to say to me when I met him. He was the one who always asked if I needed anything. Truth is if I wanted somebody to help me with anything Barry would have been the first person I would have gone to find. 

It is easy to make the off the cuff remark, without thinking about the consequences of the remark. 

I have often found it to be the case that what people accuse another of is so often the failing of their own lives.

The person who has surrounded themselves with possessions, and never has that little bit to give to charity, accuses others of being greedy. 

Just a thought.

Have a wonderful day.