JeroenNetten.nl

I’m an asshole. As any goodhearted Dutch person I try to be direct and honest in my dealing with other people. However, in most social interactions directness is a sign of insensitivity, a sign of being a dick. But, as many of my friends can attest, I don’t mind being an insensitive dick. I think it runs in my family.

Yesterday I had the unpleasant fortune of having to tell someone that I did not want them to join in an upcoming social event. I won’t go into details on why I didn’t want her to join, that doesn’t need to be shared with the rest of the world.

The problem was, I share a large social circle with her and I do not actually dislike her, it’s easy enough to be direct and honest with someone you dislike, less true if you don’t want to put their head on a stick and burn their innards. To cut a long story short, my attempt at being tactful (and operating within what I consider a shared social paradigm) was unsuccessful. To put it mildly.

Lessons Learned

• Being direct and being tactful can have the same end result.
• Maybe I’m not an insensitive dick after all. Maybe.