One of the things that I dislike is disrespect. Whether disrespecting or being disrespected. And today, I found myself doing the same thing I dislike.
So an elderly person was talking to me about something. What started as a polite discussion began to shift into a different dimension.
I realized that his tone had changed; his composition was also becoming a little violent. And all that while, I was just quiet because one of the important things I’ve learned to do now is to listen. To be quiet and then listen attentively.
So all the time that he was talking, I was just quiet. I allowed him to talk for minutes about the same thing while I just kept nodding. I don’t know exactly what he thought for him to shift the conversation from its polite nature to a different one, but he did.
He began shouting at me and talking about something I knew nothing about. And although it sounded like it was a past issue, and I knew that I knew nothing about it, he sounded happy putting the blame on me.
He kept repeating the same thing a number of times, and then I realized that I had to reciprocate his energy for him to have a taste of his medicine; if not, he wasn’t going to stop what he was doing. So I began talking back, responding to what he was saying.
I kept saying it wasn’t me in the very same tone he was also speaking in and even added the same mannerisms he was doing. He then suddenly stopped talking and began to lower his tone. He wasn’t shouting anymore, he wasn’t blaming me anymore, and he was now agreeing to what I was saying.
I made a mental comment about how it took me reciprocating his energy for him to hear me, which I believe is very sad. Oftentimes, people who disrespect others just hate to be disrespected. Bullies hate to be bullied. People just hate to receive the kind of treatment they give others.
I was actually beginning to feel guilty after I walked away from him, but when I realized that the switch I made was what made him come back to his polite self, I believed it was worth it.
Images are mine