Ways of defusing voices of dissent or discontent or disagreement.
From Kathy Silveira Escobar Ways of defusing voices of dissent or discontent or disagreement. 1. “You need to stop being so angry.” Oh, I can’t tell you how many times I have heard that one. “They’ll listen to you when you stop being so mad.” I am not saying that anger opens doors because I know it is scary for people, but goodness gracious, we need to learn how to let people be pissed off about the injustice they and others they know are experiencing. We can never be polite enough, not angry enough, not _____ enough to accommodate making everyone feel comfortable in hard conversations. 2. “But remember, there are two sides to the story.” This usually translates to: “Um, they deserve what they are getting somehow.” or “We weren’t the ones who did it, why should we have to be blamed?” It always points to minimizing the reality of what’s being shared. 3. “You just need to be patient.” To me, this ranks almost as high on the nails-on-a-chalkboard-meter as when married people havin...