Too Much Sugar

Said anything embarrassing lately? I sure have—I called a good friend “Sweetie.” An interesting, hilarious friend who happens to be in her eighties.

It was supposed to be a joke, of course, and in my mind (that perilous place), it wasn’t about age. Just a silly form of encouragement.

Yes, you can, sweetie. Ugh.

I’d love to blame the culture for planting that infantalizing word in my head. But here’s the thing: When society dishes up shitty examples, our work is to think it through and rise above.  

She forgave me. We laughed. And yet … I’m still wincing.

Photo by Henri Matthieu-Saint-Laurent on Pexels