tootling with vigor

Rhododendron forest in eastern Nepal
Copyright (c) 2007 Wendee Holtcamp

"Should you find yourself the victim of other people's bitterness, ignorance, smallness or insecurities; remember, things could be worse. You could be one of them!"
- An email from "God" in my inbox today :)

From Martha Beck's article Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Lady on Oprah.com. She says:

Nevertheless, I recommend these ninja techniques for dealing with mean people. Get away from them, full stop. Sound extreme? It's not. Cruelty, whether physical or emotional, isn't normal. It may signal what psychologists call the dark triad of psychopathic, narcissistic, and Machiavellian personality disorders.

But my favorite is this:

I’m a lifelong fan of “Japlish,” English prose translated from the Japanese by someone whose sole qualification is owning a Japanese-to-English dictionary. One classic Japlish instruction, which I picked up from a car rental company, advised: “When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage then tootle him with vigor.”

So when someone says something cruel, the first step (after ignoring and getting away) is to trumpet melodiously. If that doesn't work, tootle with vigor. Consider the previous post my tootling with vigor! Ha!

"Now, Guy," she said, in precisely the tone Supernanny uses with kids on TV, "that kind of petty meanness doesn't become you. Show us all you can do better."