How did we get here? We use the word hate like it’s a candy
we pop into our mouth every 30 seconds.
“I hate the color green.”
“I hate when public garbage cans are filled to the brim and
you can’t squeeze another thing in it, or when you try to and some other garbage
falls over and spills onto the ground.”
“I hate when you reach for your phone and you say ‘hello?’ ‘hello?’
and you miss the call by a split second.”
Perhaps hate is a little strong for the way I feel about
small things like these. All week, I’ve been trying to train myself to
substitute words like ‘dislike’ and ‘annoyed by’.
Amazingly, it’s a habit that is hard, though not impossible,
to break.
If I hate the taste of tequila, particularly Yegermeister,
does that make me a hater? I hope not.
It makes me wonder tho, if we’re willing to toss around this
4-letter word for average everyday things that annoy us, how can we expect to
change real hate and get people who really are haters to become more
understanding and thoughtful and to get along with each other? The end goal
seems so far away.
So, let’s try this: “Don’t you just dislike it when … [fill
in the blank.]
“I sometimes get annoyed when … [fill in the blank.]
Hmmm, I feel calmer already.
And what if we actually took the H word out of the
dictionary altogether. Would the real hate stop if there was nothing to call it?
Would people downgrade how they feel because they can’t explain their feelings,
and be less angry or upset, sometimes for no reason?
I’d like to think yes, but I’m probably being too naïve. In
reality, they would probably just choose another word and toss it around like a
ragdoll.
But not this gal. This gal is quitting the H word. From now
on, the color green only mildly annoys me, and full garbage cans? Well, they
make me feel ‘Rrrgggghhh’.
That’s it. I’m not longer using the you-know-what word. The …
what word was that? Hmmm, I forgot already! Good. Gone.
