BEING POLITE

I passed a man walking out of a store today, holding a lovely bunch of flowers which he had evidentially just purchased, and I was tempted to comment on them.

Something like lightheartedly exclaiming, "I hope those aren't because you are in trouble with your wife!"

When I suddenly realized that wouldn't at all be politically correct.

And that is NOT a bad thing.


What are the chances he is not actually married? Pretty good, really.

It could be for a girlfriend.

A boyfriend.

Even a husband.

And again, there is nothing at all wrong with me being aware of that.

It's called being polite.

Plain and simple.

BUT WHAT ARE YOU REALLY SAYING HERE?

There are polite ways to phrase questions and requests.

"Please excuse me" sounds much better than "Get outta my way."

"Could you pass me the salt" is nicer than "Whadda ya doing, hogging all the seasonings?!"

But then you get into questions with possibly a dual meaning.

Last night my husband asked me if the dishwasher had clean or dirty dishes in it.

Perfectly reasonable request, but it MEANT something different,

It MEANT "So will you unload it so I don't have to."

A innocent inquiry - "Did you get my laundry done?"

Meaning "Did you get my laundry done and if not, WHY?"

Or am I simply being too sensitive?