People have probably always told you to think before you speak. Maybe your mom said it before you said something snide to your little brother, or your teachers said it when they didn’t want a million dumb questions. However, what people don’t recognize is that they should always think before they speak.
The fact is, every person has a heart and every person has feelings. Every person is a person! Each person deserves same amount of respect as another. Sure, that may sound simple, but sometimes our vision gets in our way. People may look at me and see a regular-looking white female. Truth is, there's a lot more to me than that. Everyone is different: in looks, traits, viewpoints, personality. Different shapes, colors, sizes or opinions of people shouldn’t affect how you speak to a person or about a person.
Imagine you're blind. How would you speak to the people surrounding you? You would not have visual cues to lead you to an opinion about someone before you speak. Each person would just be another person. Wouldn’t you try to use as much respect and intelligence as you could in every conversation, so that you can get respect back? Why don’t people think before they speak and speak like every person is a person? Because we see whom we are speaking to, and unconsciously or not, form a perception about them.
In a perfect world, people wouldn’t form perceptions and judgments about people. Then maybe thinking before we speak might not be as important an issue. Today, however, we must remind ourselves to think, and not speak on those judgments.
Perception can maybe cause a fit person to speak down to a person who is on the heavier side because they disagree with their life choices. What if that person had a medical condition? Why does it matter if their life choices may not seem parallel to yours? He or she is a person. They have feelings, and they have a right to be treated with respect. Think before you speak.
What if your campus had a “Day of Inclusion” like DePauw held this past year, to raise awareness of how you treat others that may not be like you. What if you are white, and you ditched it, saying you were “just too busy” or “it was boring.” The day was created to better the lives of your classmates and to help you see how your words affect others, and you’re too busy or bored to care about that? Think before you speak.
See how your words can come off wrong? You never know what people may think about what you say. You don’t know their history or prejudices. You don’t know what they’re like on the inside, until you take the time to investigate. No matter what you are talking about, whether they seem similar to or different than you, think.
I wish everyone would think before they talk to people, especially when it gets to be about the color, shape or size of people. Overall judgments, criticisms and claims spoken aloud can always be taken the wrong way. People are all people and everyone has feelings. If what you want to say could possibly be taken the wrong way, even if it is questionable at all, please refrain from saying it. Think before you speak.
