Excuse Me; I Don’t Mean To _________, But…

Excuse me; I don’t mean to _________, but…

LIAR!

Why do we say things like this? Why do we do things like this? Have you ever said this? Heard this? Hold on…let’s try a few more and see if it jogs your memory.

Excuse me; I don’t mean to INTERRUPT, but…

Yes you do! If you didn’t want to INTERRUPT, you wouldn’t have!

Excuse me; I don’t mean to GOSSIP, but…

Right. Sure. Does this one even need explanation? I don’t mean to GOSSIP, I just want to talk about someone behind their back, sharing THEIR story, not mine. I don’t want to GOSSIP; I just want to keep you informed about what’s going on…that’s all…

Excuse me; I don’t mean to PRY, but…

Uh-huh. You don’t mean to PRY? Then why are you asking? Are you asking because you care and want to help or because you’d like to control the situation or because you find amusement and some twisted sense of satisfaction in someone else’s struggles?

Excuse me; I don’t mean to JUDGE, but…

…I’m going to!

Excuse me; I don’t mean to be a JERK, but…
 
This one cracks me up! You know what you’re about to say is the opposite of nice, in fact, you know it’s going to hurt someone’s feelings (and not in a good way), but you’re going to say it anyways! JERK! Own it! You’re a JERK! If you weren’t you’d keep your mouth shut.

Why do we do it? Why can’t we just be HONEST? Why can’t we just say things as they are? People laugh when I say, “Excuse me; I mean to interrupt…” They laugh, but I seriously mean to invade your conversation. Honest wins and if we can’t be honest with the small things, the insignificant things, how can we EVER learn to be honest and real with the big things?

Start with the small. Work towards the big.