…(You didn’t think I’d see that, do you…)

Even if we vehemently deny, there’s just no way we can deny that there’s more than meets the eye. In other words, what we don’t say in most cases speaks louder than what comes out of our lips. It is possible, thanks to good ole psychology. That’s the wonder of being able to read body language which is, most of the time, more conspicuous than spoken words.

With no less than the constitution guaranteeing our right to freedom of expression which can be further justified by the cliché ‘insult is taken, not given’, we ought to be responsible with what we say so we wont end up pissing whoever is in front of us at worse or, we’ll be getting our points across albeit convoluted at best.

A time for everything

There’s a time and place for jokes and our oozing sarcasm. It is in such time that we can roast someone sans the coals or when we play a prank on a homie.

And then there are instances when such ‘skills’ need to take a back seat to give way to civility and diplomacy especially when dealing with people who are not our close friends like our coworkers, our bosses, or a random fellow human we’d meet somewhere. You just gotta shut up sometimes despite the urge to throw a punchline, a quasi-insult or a full-fledged one.

But even when you mean nothing sinister at all, you can still be misinterpreted. If you’re not bothered by this, you need not give a damn. But if it’s a client or anyone who needs an exact account of any story, you will need to extend yourself to explain carefully what you wanted to tell them in such a way that it leaves no room for other interpretations.

No matter how careful you are though, people can still, or will deliberately misinterpret you. And sometimes, people assume that the person in front of them is stupid, and so they become oblivious to what’s going on inside the person’s head. You can only hope they’re not imagining the smell of your skin being roasted in flames.

Fill in the blanks

Nevertheless it is fun to listen sometimes and complete their rather incomplete sentences in your head, especially when you can read the body language which is hard to fake, like the few examples below. You really gotta thank psychology for giving such a comic relief.

• Your sibling is dang brainy (And you’re braindead!)
• You have cool parents (You’re not like them. Not one bit. Are you legitimate or what?!)
• Your parents have Latin honors?! (Then why are you their mea culpa?!)
• You’re entitled to a better care. (Because they are losers and not competent enough, you know?!)