Here's My Theory

Here’s My Law: Pointing Out Flaws

Here’s the situation:

You’re out with your friend, and you’re about to meet up with a bunch of other people. Your friend leans over to you and whispers “you forgot to shave a part of your cheek.” Ta-da! You’re now self conscious for the rest of the day.

I’m not about to suggest that you should never point out flaws on your friends in order to prevent them from embarrassment, because that would actually be helpful.

Here’s my law:

NEVER point out a flaw on someone unless there is some way of fixing the problem at that moment. If the person has no way of fixing the problem, you’re not being helpful, you’re being mean (whether you intend to or not).

For example, in the above situation, you can’t whip out a razor and suddenly shave the spot you missed. Instead, you just spend the night trying to talk to people on the opposite side of the spot, or you hold a drink up to that cheek to cover it. If your friend never mentioned it to you, chances are most people didn’t notice it and you could have enjoyed your day.

So please, think about if your little comments fit this requirement before you make that brain-to-mouth transition. That is all.

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