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"OQP" - Les Brown
if there's one thing that Les has said that has been oh so true, it has been 'OQP'. Only Quality People. i forget about this. i get so excited about ideas and plans that i want to share with any- and every- one, thinking that everyone has valuable input, everyone has experiences i may be able to learn from and-- *BUZZ* whoops... no. not true. not true at all.
because, harsh though it may be, there are people who are mired in negativity. people who don't see an existence for themselves outside of their normal, miserable everyday activity. if my opinion or my plans happen to deviate from what they consider acceptable, i must be lectured/warned/told how dangerous/foolish/strange i am. i forgot! i remember now. be careful of those people you share your dreams with. that's not being judgmental, that's just common sense. OQP. not to say that you aren't a quality person for someone else. you just aren't quality for me. so pardon me while i keep my dreams to myself. we have different values, different visions. the things that excite you do not excite me and vice versa. that's ok, isn't it? the world will not fall apart if we don't see eye to eye on every topic/issue, will it? i promise you that it will not.
conversation is a lost art. whatever happened to it? fuck a debate. i'm not a parrot. i don't live to force my view of life on the world at large. box it up, dress it with a pretty bow and BAM! there it is, bitch! well, i'm a writer, so i suppose that in some ways, i do long to force my view of life on the world at large. forgive me, though, if i leave the chatty cathy in me at home with my computer. i don't carry my manuscripts with me as i will my purse. i'm not so fucking important that i feel my views, my thoughts, my words must be heard by everyone i meet.
so what, i didn't call you on that mean assed comment you made the other day. doesn't mean i agree with it. it just means that i didn't think it was worth the time and energy to argue. you're entitled, after all, to say whatever it is you want to say to whomever you want to say it. right? isn't that what freedom of speech is all about? forgive me, though, if i decide that you are not a person with whom i wish to engage in conversation again.
i get tired of being talked at. by people who move into and out of my conscience without making an impression because they are so busy hiding from themselves, it is impossible to know what is real about them and what is manufactured. every line is rehearsed. and heaven forbid a person be called upon for spontaneous discussion. which is fine. i don't really want to talk to you anyway. at least i can be honest when i say that, and it doesn't make me a bad person for saying it, and it doesn't make you a bad person because you happen to be the person i am saying it to.
i'm just not interested in pretense. does that make me strange? good. people bug me because i'm only talkative with selective folks-- and even then, i'm only talkative with selective folks selectively. does this make me strange? i can live with that. I'm not going to talk to every Michael Marlon and Jermaine that comes my way. that's just me. allow me that individuality. claim some individuality for yourself, why don't you? i am not a mirror; i'm no reflection of you. do not expect to gain validation from me; i'm too busy validating myself. i don't expect to share your opinion; i don't need you to share mine.
yeah. OQP. a lesson well remembered.
if there's one thing that Les has said that has been oh so true, it has been 'OQP'. Only Quality People. i forget about this. i get so excited about ideas and plans that i want to share with any- and every- one, thinking that everyone has valuable input, everyone has experiences i may be able to learn from and-- *BUZZ* whoops... no. not true. not true at all.
because, harsh though it may be, there are people who are mired in negativity. people who don't see an existence for themselves outside of their normal, miserable everyday activity. if my opinion or my plans happen to deviate from what they consider acceptable, i must be lectured/warned/told how dangerous/foolish/strange i am. i forgot! i remember now. be careful of those people you share your dreams with. that's not being judgmental, that's just common sense. OQP. not to say that you aren't a quality person for someone else. you just aren't quality for me. so pardon me while i keep my dreams to myself. we have different values, different visions. the things that excite you do not excite me and vice versa. that's ok, isn't it? the world will not fall apart if we don't see eye to eye on every topic/issue, will it? i promise you that it will not.
conversation is a lost art. whatever happened to it? fuck a debate. i'm not a parrot. i don't live to force my view of life on the world at large. box it up, dress it with a pretty bow and BAM! there it is, bitch! well, i'm a writer, so i suppose that in some ways, i do long to force my view of life on the world at large. forgive me, though, if i leave the chatty cathy in me at home with my computer. i don't carry my manuscripts with me as i will my purse. i'm not so fucking important that i feel my views, my thoughts, my words must be heard by everyone i meet.
so what, i didn't call you on that mean assed comment you made the other day. doesn't mean i agree with it. it just means that i didn't think it was worth the time and energy to argue. you're entitled, after all, to say whatever it is you want to say to whomever you want to say it. right? isn't that what freedom of speech is all about? forgive me, though, if i decide that you are not a person with whom i wish to engage in conversation again.
i get tired of being talked at. by people who move into and out of my conscience without making an impression because they are so busy hiding from themselves, it is impossible to know what is real about them and what is manufactured. every line is rehearsed. and heaven forbid a person be called upon for spontaneous discussion. which is fine. i don't really want to talk to you anyway. at least i can be honest when i say that, and it doesn't make me a bad person for saying it, and it doesn't make you a bad person because you happen to be the person i am saying it to.
i'm just not interested in pretense. does that make me strange? good. people bug me because i'm only talkative with selective folks-- and even then, i'm only talkative with selective folks selectively. does this make me strange? i can live with that. I'm not going to talk to every Michael Marlon and Jermaine that comes my way. that's just me. allow me that individuality. claim some individuality for yourself, why don't you? i am not a mirror; i'm no reflection of you. do not expect to gain validation from me; i'm too busy validating myself. i don't expect to share your opinion; i don't need you to share mine.
yeah. OQP. a lesson well remembered.