I truly admire the audacity of children. They aren’t afraid to be absolutely honest. What would the world be like if we didn’t grow out of the mildly offensive yet refreshing honesty and audacity that comes along with adolescence?
My initial thought was, there would be a lot of offended people. I can’t count how many times I told my friends I like their outfit, new hair cut or singing (sorry guys). I know that if I had honestly told them my opinion, it would have only hurt their feelings, diminished their self-esteem or maybe even crush their life dream. Where is the line that I cross from being the self-confidence booster to the honest adviser? Then I think about the other potential outcome of an uncensored and honest society, a place where saying exactly how you feel isn’t shocking or offensive, it’s just expected.
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I ask my friends questions with subconscious answers in mind and occasionally take offense to their answers differing from the mind that I didn’t even know I had made up. Why do I get offended by the honest answers to my honest questions? The worst part of it all is, after I get offended by their honest opinion, I more than likely offend them by going against the advice they offered and thought I valued.
The offense from other’s truthfulness is derived from the shock value of audacious honesty. We’ve created a society that says the right thing rather than the honest thing. I babysit a little boy, William, and one time he told me that he didn’t like my dress. After I explained to him that, that wasn’t a very nice thing to say, he just looked at me confused and then apologized. It’s at that moment that I realized kids don’t know the right thing to say, they just know the honest thing to say. Their life hasn’t been tainted with unnecessary euphemisms. Why should the sweetest little boy have to apologize for an opinion that had no malicious undertones? It was just a three year old’s observation.
I’m not advising that you go tell your girlfriend that she does, in fact, look fat in those jeans. I’m not really advising anything. I’m just daydreaming and procrastinating by creating hypothetical scenarios (my favorite pastime) while writing this article. The fact of the matter is, omitting all the well-intended white lies from our every day would more than likely leave a trail of tears. Whether you opt of the euphemism or to embrace your inner audacious adolescence, is up to you. I’m going to aim for somewhere in between.
