Before you talk

When I was a kid, some of us girls used to play soccer at recess with the boys. We’d get to the patio and placed ourselves against the wall until we got picked by one team or the other. One day, while we waited in circle for the guys to arrive and start the selection process, I opened my big mouth and started trash-talking one of my classmates, laughing about the way she dressed. It was all super fun until I realized she was standing right there, looking at me in disbelief. I don’t remember what happened next, you know, after I felt the heat of embarrassment engulf my nine year-old self. I must have blocked it.

Since then, I either tell the person straight up what I think or look both ways before I say anything mean. Even more important, I’m extra careful with email and text messaging, that shit gets stored in a server somewhere and can’t be erased. That’s how they get the perps in Law & Order all the time. Have you ever sent a message to the wrong person? I have. Luckily, they’re brother and sister and I tell them both the same stuff anyway, but still.

So, a word of advice. Remember to carefully manage all those WhatsApp conversations you have going on, not to mention Gmail’s group nested email threads. Talk about danger!

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