I know I am. Not always. Maybe.
I pretend to treat everyone as equal, but expect them to keep their place.
I say 'This is awesome' when I actually mean, 'This looks quite ordinary, but it will be unkind of me to say so.'
I say 'You've done a good job' when what I actually want to say is, 'It could have been better but it is not for me to point out your flaws.'
I say 'You've done the right thing' when I think 'I wish you had done something else.'
When my son asks me, 'Why didn't you let them do that?' I am such a coward to admit, 'They annoy me and I don't want them to do that.'
I say 'It looked excellent' when I mean 'I am sorry I did not get time to look at it.'
I say 'Everything's great,' because I don't want to tell them how awful it actually is.
This doesn't mean that whenever I say something is good, I don't mean it. There are times when I say 'it is awesome' and I mean 'it is awesome.' It's all very complicated.
When I see kids declare on their profiles, "I hate hypocrites" I want to laugh. And I want to tell them, "You don't know who a hypocrite is. We all are. If you hate hypocrites, there won't be anyone left to love."
But I don't because they will find it out. Sooner or later.
this kinda shatters my whole setup :P it's better to be a hypocrite i guess :D cheers to all fellow hypocrites ;) excellent post. hard truths some of them.
ReplyDeleteI like reading your articles; this one is particularly apt. Most of us have a mask and it is sometimes difficult to find the real person beneath it. However, I maintain, as did Harper Lee of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' fame, that "most people are really nice when you see them". I guess one pragmatic philosophy of life as a result of your article is to look for the hidden good in people beneath the veneer of hypocrisy.
ReplyDeleteHowever, here is the truth about my comment, "I like reading your articles." There is no other 'hidden' meaning.
hmm good
ReplyDeleteThoughtfully written article.
ReplyDeleteThey say there are lies and there are white lies. Maybe, hypocrites have colors too!
exactly, i keep saying this to people... no one likes to know the truth :)
ReplyDeleteChandru: LOL, I am sorry to have 'shattered your setup'. :D
ReplyDeletesunbyanyname: Thank you very much, Sir!
Ketan, jeanoholic, Sub: Thanks for your comments.
Sometime being hypocrite is for the good. If your being hypocrite helps your son in one way or the other its good. When you say "Everything's great..' no matter what you thought actually.. it does give a smile to the other person. Wearing a mask is sometimes actually good; at least it does not give show your actual face thereby not causing the pain...
ReplyDeleteheh, I'm a blunt sort of person; so I tend to blurt out things that are true to me. I only tell someone something not true when they annoy me too much, or needs to be brighten up. It's good to be a hypocrite sometimes.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the greatest hypocrite of all is the one who pretends not being a hypocrite. Truth is, even with the best intentions in mind to act according to the highest moral principles, we are all subject to this immediate reality of life: how to get some money to support yourself and your family. And when you can't do that, I can assure you that morality of this kind quickly gets thrown out the window.
ReplyDelete