In the season of forgiveness

[drwex]

Emma Bull (coffeeem) put this on her LJ. It's so very true of me that I asked her permission to reuse it. She agreed, so here goes, with slight modifications:

I like it when someone agrees with me, when someone laughs at my jokes, or thinks something I said was smart. When they say so, I get a nice little jolt of satisfaction.

When I think someone else has made a wise observation or a good joke, or put something particularly well, I sometimes take the moment to say, "Oh, well done." To agree or laugh or admire. But sometimes I jump right past that to add to it.

I mean it as a compliment: "That was so good I want to be a part of it." But at best, it looks as if I didn't notice how good the original statement was. At worst, it looks like attempted one-upmanship: "Oh, I can be smarter/funnier/more articulate than that."

If I've done this to you, I am sincerely sorry and I hope you'll forgive the offense I've given. I will try harder not to do this any more.