Have you ever been cutting something in the kitchen and accidently cut yourself? In that instant, time seems to stop, and you can see the razor edge of the knife blade slice into the skin of your finger. And in that same instant, a non-verbal part of your brain thinks, “Oh man! This is going to hurt.” But you don’t feel the pain yet. And in that same instant, another part of your brain is wondering why you didn’t move your finger out of the way while still another part is calling you an idiot for moving the knife into your finger. And as that frozen moment of time begins to slip into the next, you see the blood begin to seep out of the wound. And then suddenly, a tidal wave of pain shoots up your finger and you jerk your hand away. Finally the verbal part of your brain, always slow to respond to such events, says, “Ouch!”
Sometimes, comments from insensitive people feel the same way…