I was just at the tienda grabbing a water after my run, and three young women were in line in front of me, clearly not thinking of the fact that I could possibly speak even the tiniest bit of Spanish, talking about me and being quite cruel about it. I don’t speak Spanish fluently so I did not catch all of it, but I caught enough.
The lady who works there is really nice… she’s one of those people you just like, an all-around sweetheart. I practice my Spanish with her and shepractices her English with me. We bond. And while these gals were having their little powwow, she and I made eye contact. She probably could tell I was hurt.
So they left and I walked up, and she told me in Spanish, instead of English, that she knows I’ve been learning a lot and it’s hard to learn a new language, because she’s doing it too, and she’s so proud of me. That she likes to practice English with me. She hopes I don’t listen to those bitches.
And every awful thing that was just said about me evaporated, replaced instead with immense appreciation for her kind words. She not only took away every bit of sting, she actually flipped it around so I was suddenly proud of me too.
What a magical 30 seconds! Never underestimate the power of your words, kind or unkind. You can change someone’s whole day in a flash.
The things you say, they matter.
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