Words Spoken

You know the old adages about once an arrow is loosed it cannot be called back? And the transfer of that to a word spoken? Probably now would be a good time to reflect on that, for me for sure, and maybe you too.
Everyone gets insulted or dissed or overlooked at some time in their lives. A natural tendency is to lash out verbally with some nasty remark like “up yours, asshole” or worse, say something that is usually a deleted epithet that relates to race, religion or country of origin. Or let out some secret that you know would hurt but have never revealed. The goal, then, is to hurt.
The problem is the arrow thing. Once you call somebody something, or diss them, it is impossible to retrieve the words. And don’t think for a moment that they are ever forgotten. Forgiven maybe, but never, never forgotten. I remember an early “race” movie where a black woman was going to marry the love of her life, a white man, and she was his, too. Her mother was against the marriage and said “Some day he is going to get angry and call you a Nigger. Then what will you do?” Forgive if possible, but forget? I doubt it. And I don’t remember how the movie came out. But I never forgot that line.
The moral: be very careful what you say to others, in person or in writing. The echo will go on forever.
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