Foot In Mouth

I am convinced that I have Foot in Mouth disease, y'all. No, not Foot and Mouth disease. Not Fifth's disease. Foot in Mouth disease. It's not a dominant gene, but recessive - it only expresses 25% of the time. And I can't control it. I don't know if others are aware of it regularly. Well, except Runner Girl who I one day at work managed to call unattractive approximately 3 times. It was a Foot in Mouth kind of day.

I constantly worry about offending someone in the same space as me inadvertently. Kind of like the postcard below (courtesy of Google).


And what happens then is that I am uncomfortable. I become physically uncomfortable. I think my Foot in Mouth comes from growing up in a fairly rural fairly white small town. I hope I am clear about this point: I am comfortable around people of all races/backgrounds/ethnicity/sizes/socioeconomic status. I was not raised to elevate myself or believe that I am better than any other human being on this earth.

But put me in a room with any person who is not like those I grew up with and I become convinced that the second I open my mouth, I will offend the other person. And then I truly think I come off as being that stereotypical white girl who is only being polite or thinks she's better than everyone. Which kills me, because that's not who I am.

I find the ways other people grew up to be fascinating. I want to ask questions and see where they came from, what they think about the same things I think about. Both superficial and deep questions. But my Foot in Mouth is always lurking in the back of my mind. It's been a rough couple years living in the Deep South and trying to not offend any of the Hispanic/Mexican/Latino women that I work with...whom I adore. They have taught me so much about how the innocuous words in Italian are the equivalent of a potty mouth in Spanish. My very last intention would be to ever offend those beautiful women.

I wish I could be more like the majority of women I work with, who appear to be comfortable no matter who they are talking to. I don't know if they all harbor the same fear that I have or if there is something different in their outlook that I need to learn.

Until I figure it out, I think I'll try to keep my Foot in Mouth in check.

Thanks Shell, as always, for letting me Pour My Heart Out