okay, moving on.
ROTD: there is a certain phrase that people use that kills me. and when i say 'kill,' i mean that i feel murdered when i hear it. there is no other phrase that could possibly be more offensive than this one. it usually comes about because a friend, classmate, or coworker does something nice for you and you thank them. however, instead of responding with a polite and sophisticated 'you're welcome,' they say something like this: 'it's the least i can do.'
oh the horror! the agony! the unfairness of this cold, bitter world!
'the least you can do?' wow, thanks for explaining it to me. you see, from my point of view, you did something of value for me. i was thankful! thankful enough to actually voice my gratitude. but the fact is, two people often see the same situation in different ways. so perhaps i should thank you once more. usually i do not get the pleasure of understanding how others see me, but this is informative. i can imagine exactly how this happened from your point of view:
< wow, he thanked me for trying to help him out. this morning as i ate my corn puffs i pondered, looking for some way to make him mad. i thought of all the things that i could do for him, including some that he is probably expecting me to do, and formed a mental list. eventually i decided to do the very least helpful thing possible. yes, despite all i am capable of, i settled for the thing that would require the very least effort, that would not require me to give of myself in any way. yet somehow i still got a 'thank you.' weird. or wait... maybe that was sarcasm. he was saying 'thank you' to show me that he noticed how little i did for him. perhaps i should respond by saying 'it's the least i can do.' >
perhaps in the future i will talk about the wisdom of installing what i call a BMSF. a BMSF can prevent us from saying stupid things that we will likely regret. a very useful device, i assure you.
that is all for now. until next time,
jm
You are pretty cool, Jason. Love, Lucy
ReplyDeleteThey aren't trying to insult you; humans tend to exaggerate and I think it's a way of being modest while also saying that it was no inconvenience whatsoever, that it was indeed a pleasure and that they'd love to help in any other way possible. But it is an interesting thing to think about.
ReplyDeleteI have always thought of it as an incomplete statement that had been shortened over time. Like originally it was "It is the least I could do... for all you have done for me." Over time the second have has been lazy'd off.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this insight with me. Gotta admit it made me giggle a bit :) I can definitely see where you are coming from however.
ReplyDelete