Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me.
Justin Timberlake
It’s not true what we were told as children was it?
Being called a Name hurts.
I’ve been fortunate to break a few bones in my life.
I can tell you now.
It doesn’t hurt that much.
Wrap my ankle or arm up in bandages, I’m okay in a few weeks.
Repeatedly put me down and insult me – that hurts for a lot longer.
I’ve carried wounds from words for decades.
It takes a while to sink in :
Don’t take the phrase literally –
What our parents really meant was this :
Pretend it doesn’t hurt otherwise it will get worse.
Obviously then our parents hit us.
Well, we must have done something to deserve it right?
(Joke for the older among us when hitting your children was normal!)
But if you say :
Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me
It proves that you were hurt.
It will get worse for you. You’re now their favorite target.
So should we :
Take arms against a sea of insults and by opposing end them?
OR Copy me and Say this :
Please punch me in the face
No-one ever took me up on the offer.
Obviously people punched me randomly but never when I asked them first.
If people act hurt or pretend not to be, that’s easy to deal with.
If they’re faced with a MAD, turkey nutso bananas guy –
They’re not sure what category to put you in.
They back away slowly.
If someone asks you to be punch them in the face, remember they’re not so dumb.
Slight downside
I took it a little too far, asking everyone to punch me.
The institution wasn’t too bad,actually.
It gave me time to improve my methods.
Have you seen my toes?
See. You don’t know how to respond to that,right?
The institution worked.
Tim Willows Additional Thoughts
It reminds me of when I actually did get punched back when I was into the wisdom of Solomon
Quote Note
I can guarantee Justin Timberlake has said all those words. I just arranged the order he used them to get the quote.
The rebel fish 
A serious message presented with a good dose of humour – love it Tim :O) x
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thank you 🙂 Was it serious? I shall have to rewrite it 🙂
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Not too serious 😉
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You made a very good point there…I’ve never broken a bone, but I can confirm that a punch in the face doesn’t hurt for long. Insightful post…expect a call from Oprah.
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Perhaps I can replace Dr. Phil – a simple strategy of asking to be punched in the face – what could possibly go wrong? 🙂
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My grandad did exactly that in his younger years…lost his two front teeth. True story. I wouldn’t recommend it 🙂
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I don’t remember having any bones broken by stick or stone, I do remember a school age party whereby I broke my own bone on falling over in a drunken stupor.
Cut out the middle man and save my opponent having to find stone or stick.
I was considerate like that.
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lol – but only “occasionally considerate”
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The only time I was that considerate 🙂
I have some wonderful imagery going on of a MAD, nutso banana guy bewildered owing to requests for physical assault.
His method of intimidation and manipulation has just been removed – he can’t use fear to control because his intended victim has just requested a punch in the face.
Bravo 🙂
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in pubs and the like the cry could be “Outside,Now” as a way to intimidate to say they wanted to fight you. I used to say “Inside,now” to make fun of it. Fortunately nobody knew what I meant.
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I would have paid money to have seen that 😀
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I did, and I want my money back!
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Faking crazy is always a good personal defense strategy… but I’m guessing it’s not too much of a stretch for you.
😜
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Yes, I seem to be blessed in that area 🙂
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Embrace your gift. And maybe invest in some boxing headgear… the punches will hurt less, and you’ll look even nuttier going out to dinner in it. You can’t lose.
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yes, people would do a double take. A bit like when I almost got my face tattooed with my own face only slightly to the left … so people would do that double take..
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Oh, I think you should. Then sidle up next to someone at a bar late at night and shake your head back and forth rapidly. They’ll run for the hills.
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Or punch me in one of my faces
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The comments are almost better than the blog-see how inspirational it was?
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Getting them to think you might be that crazy guy can work. It worked for me one time, but I was worried that I might like it too much.
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My latest solution is :stay indoors. Details? 🙂
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I’m reminded of one of my favorite childhood cartoons, Hey Arnold. There is an episode where he’s challenged to a fight, and he acts crazy, nutso bananas! to get out of it. I’ve always wanted to try that.
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Still time to try it 🙂
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You can’t hit me, I wear glasses, always worked for me. That is until I actually started to wear glasses!
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You were seen as weak if you hit people with glasses, which is why I didn’t wear mine. They may as well have hit me as I tended to walk into things without my glasses…
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[…] Names could never hurt me […]
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