Monday, May 2, 2011

Funny Tone of Color

Do you ever hear people tell you to be careful how you say things? I have heard it before, though not necessarily directed at myself. One of my pet pieves is misplaced emphasis. It probably seems silly and not very many people understand when I try to explain, but as an example, "this blanket was made in Mexico, but we got it in New Mexico." Does this bother anyone else? I tried to explain to the speaker at the time that it should be "New Mexico" but that person didn't see the point. Please if you're going to make a point, try to emphisize the right word. I also hate it when people try to sing a song a capella and they get the spacing wrong; like when there is a pause where the music comes in, but the person comes in too soon. Ui ui ui! But that is more of a rhythm issue and not where I intended to take this.
Some people are tone deaf while others are just fine. I like to tell people I am tone sensitive, although not necessarily in terms of music. No matter what you say to me and no matter how well intentioned, it is always your tone of voice that I will react to. I know that seems pretty obvious, but for me it is the equivalent of reading facial expressions. I can not read facial expressions, so you can only imagine how much tones of voice mean to me. That being said, you might think I would have a problem with sarcasm or deadpan humer, but actually I don't. I do have problems when people aren't careful how they respond though.
I am not much bothered by distracted tones. If I feel I actually need something from you right then I will just keep on with my request, otherwise I am likely to drop the issue and come bug you later. Annoied tones are different though. If I come to you and your first response rings of annoyance and I can not immedietly identify what is annoying you, I will assume it is me or something I did at some point and feel bad. The worst one however, is anger. If I come to you, and you have just been having an argument with someone or you have been getting frustrated with something, and your response to me is angry even if it's not at me, I am likely to flinch, back hurridly away and avoid you for the rest of that day. For those of you who are wondering, yes, I am told I was a joy to raise, hehehe.
I won't say that I have not been guilty of any of these a time or two myself, but some people just don't realize and I only wish they would be more careful. Or we could all talk like Ben Stein and I'd be hopelessly lost. lols

No comments:

Post a Comment

Always happy to read what you have to say.