The Bean Bag

I have just about had it with insensitive comments that are meant to "help". No, I do not want to hear you tell me that it was God's will that Ethan die. Maybe I believe that, maybe I don't. But I do know one thing. There is no better way to turn a mother off of God quicker than to tell her that He wanted her baby to die. I can also do without "you can have more children", "you just need to forget about it", and "if God takes something from us, it's because he has something better in store for us". And, "Oh, you're still upset?" is a real winner, too. The answer to that is - Uh, yeah, I am. I have tried to not let stupid comments upset me, especially the ones that were made from someone that I know was trying to comfort me. Easier said than done, however, so I thought up an analogy to help me along.

When I was teaching, sometimes I would have my students sit in a circle to discuss certain topics. We had a bean bag, and the rule was that you could not speak unless you were holding the bean bag. Sometimes, I wish that life were that way. Only there would be someone screening the comments, and if what you had to say was especially asinine, you would not be allowed to hold the bean bag. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, be your own screener. And if what you have to say isn't 'I'm sorry' or 'I love you', then please, just pass the bean bag. And if you can't, then just know that in my mind, I'm thinking, "Crap, the idiot got the bean bag again!"