What if a stranger insults you?

[Merel]

I attempt to funnel my negative thoughts from strangers into the predictable (and more positive) mindset that a person must feel very miserable to need to elevate themselves by insulting a stranger who didn't provoke them in any way. I won't deny I still feel the sting, and remember strangers who just snickered at me in passing years after the fact. Spoken insults from strangers seem to occur when I don't have my wits about me and I think of a good comeback later that day while trying to calm myself down in the shower. I'm not the best person at spoken communication.

 

[MotherWolff]

A famous clinical psychologist once went through a litany of how severely mentally ill I am. She repeatedly told me that she was shocked by my behavior. I was not her patient. She was offering this gratis.

Well, I am not only being kind(gratis) but I am being truthful.

Pure negativism is never true, nor is it healthy.

I'd rather hear constructive criticism.

 

[RegalSin]

It depends on where and when and if it was worth my time. Otherwise if it is an repetitive thing then you can bother them otherwise people grow up and get older.

 

[Foxie913]

I remember another time where my mum and I were insulted by strangers. We were walking home from somewhere and a bus passed us and I happened to look at the back window and saw two guys flipping us the bird. I just thought "Whatever" to myself. Pair of dorks.

 

[coolbeans]

I used to get really upset over insults by others. I didn't get it too much, even as a younger gal because I am pretty big. I used to be bigger... well fat, but I'm just tall and square at this point in life. People seem to find bigger more intimidating. I also have what I like to call "f**k off face". It discourages comment, even negative comment.

I don't have a problem saying something. To the original post, I would have asked the little guy why the first thing his mind went to was something up the bum.

 

[sky_blue]

I completely ignore them cause their not worth my time.

 

[gustavofring]

I always think like, if it wasn't me, it would be some other random person who just happened to walk on by to satisfy their impulses that they have at that moment, sometimes out of boredom, sometimes taking out their frustration, sometimes drug-induced. Don't take it personally.

Kids in groups, especially the sort who act all tough on the street, often behave like a sort of predatory apes, trying to impress one another with bravado and jokes at the expense of some poor passerby. Then there's also older cretins who sometimes randomly yell at you for no reason at all. Just frustration and pain boiling up from inside of them. Maybe they hate their jobs and life and you are the random person they take it out on.

One day I feel like if I'm caught in an especially bad mood, I really might be that "one person they shouldn't have messed with", but I hope I can remember at such a moment that it's not really worth it. It's really just a low, gutter sort of behavior that is not worth anyone's time. It should be pitied that these people are so stuck in these primal urges, it's not the type of mentality that will get them ahead in life or make them happy. I also try to remember that people are multi-faceted and their behavior is unpredictable. They might be nice people at other times. The way people behave is merely a reflection of their state of consciousness at that moment. That **** who called you out in his car, might be a good father. It's not in the way of things that people are always going to be nice to you, if you accept this unpredictability and have no expectancy of how others should or should not behave, they become a bit more forgivable and the world becomes a bit less hostile.

 

[Heremit]

What would you do if a stranger said something rude about you?

I instantly lose my temper.