Filter or no filter...

Proceed with caution...ranting dead ahead!

A little back story to this rant...

After a really long week, I decided to get a pedicure last Friday night at Kim's, a nice little Vietnamese nail salon at 66th and O street. The ladies there speak varying degrees of English, which can make things a little tricky at times, but they are always really nice and do a great job. As far as the pedicure went, I had a relaxing time and came away with happy feet. :)

While I was in there a woman and her 10-ish year old daughter came in for the woman to get a manicure. She was a rather loud individual and I could hear everything she said from across the room (annoying personality trait #1). She had a bit of an accent, nothing huge but enough to know she "wasn't from around here," and when the manicurist asked her if she was from Nebraska, she said she had a house in Lincoln and one in Florida. She immediately whipped out her iPhone, said her Florida home was just gorgeous and that she had pictures of it to show her (the manicurist). Granted I wasn't feeling well and thus a little cranky, but I thought this was really rude and show off-y. It then became apparent that she'd been there before...she liked how the lady sitting next to her shellac nails turned out and asked who had done them (one of the other manicurists had) and said she liked them, unlike how her shellac nail job turned out the last time she came in...right in front of the gal who had done her nails last time! Again...rude. She then started chatting with her neighbor, who it turned out works for a company who does people's taxes, asking her about rates, deals, etc...which fine, it's tax season, so I get looking for a deal...although the lady had already mentioned that she'd worked 9 days straight and probably wanted to talk about anything but work. But then she turned to the lady doing her nails (I think she's one of the owners of Kim's) says, "I'll bet you're rich"...three times! What the heck?! A couple of the other ladies working there kept looking at the loud woman and chatting in Vietnamese...and I can't imagine they were saying very flattering things about her.

Now, I freely admit that this all annoyed me more than it should have, but it got me thinking about an overall personality trait that bugs the crap out of me on the best of days and would likely be this woman's excuse if someone called her out on her behavior...and that's the "no filter" life experience.

I'm sure we all know someone like this...someone who has no brain-to-mouth filter and just spews whatever is on their mind. They will excuse their occasional social faux pas by saying things like "I'm just speaking my mind" or "At least you don't have to worry about what I'm really thinking/where you stand with me" or "I'm just being honest."

I'm sorry...just because you think it, doesn't mean it needs to come out of your mouth or that you have to impose it on other people. Half the time I feel like it's sheer laziness and they don't want to take the time to consider the consequences of their words and have decided that claiming "honesty" while ruffling a few feathers along the way is just easier than thinking before opening their mouths.

And yes, I know that tact and being PC can also be overrated. Sometimes pure and brutal honesty is called for, but I generally try to limit that to when it's specifically requested. Yes mom, clearly there are exceptions to the rule...I have been known to be rather judgmental myself, but never under the guise of "honesty." I'll call it for what it is...I have an opinionated personality and sometimes it overflow-eth. :)

Sen. Ernie Chambers...yes, he dresses like
this every-single-day. Ridiculous.

Anyway...rant over. I think being stuck listening to a loud mouth hypocrite (cough*Ernie Chambers*cough) five days a week greatly lowers my patience and tolerance level for other annoying people.

Thank God we're a little over 25% through session at this point!

Happy Tuesday!


~ Katie