[lbo-talk] NYC demo

snitsnat snitilicious at tampabay.rr.com
Fri Sep 2 20:11:37 PDT 2005


At 10:59 PM 9/2/2005, Carrol Cox wrote:


>And really, what's wrong with "I told you so!" I mean, we have a right
>to have _some_ fun!

How is it fun to say I told you so. I have never enjoyed saying that to anyone and, for the most part refrain. When I have said, I've felt ashamed of myself later -- mostly because I don't think I"ve given the other the dignity of being corrigible (capable of learning, and correction) without feeling that I have to rub it in their face.

When my son says, "You were right mommy," he's _learned_ something. Saying I told you so preempts anyone's ability to be able to admit that someone else was right and, thus, to come to any identification with them at all.

When people on this list have said, "I told you so," they don't normally meet with anything but a sneer. We're all on the same side. The one exception I can think of was Michael POllak who once handled my "I told you so" with grace and charm.

Coming off as snooty and superior because we're sooooooo much smarter than everyone is a bad idea in general, but a really bad idea when organizing around NO.

"Finish your beer. There are sober kids in India."

-- rwmartin



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