Chapter 106: Hiking with Analise (2)
"Okay, I see where you’re coming from, but isn’t it necessary to tell little white lies every now and them to avoid hurting someone’s feelings?"
"I’ll give you two examples. Let’s consider the Nickelback example first. Let’s say you tell me you are a huge fan and just love their music and listen to them all the time. And let’s say I absolutely hate their music."
"Do you? Hate Nickelback?"
"I don’t remember ever actually hearing their music, so I don’t have an opinion. I just picked them because I remember them getting a lot of hate on the Internet in the past."
"Ah, okay. Please continue."
"So, you say you like them, but I hate them. How can I respond? If I say I hate them and think anyone who likes them is an idiot, then you would almost certainly be offended. And rightly so. If I say I hate them, but don’t say anything about you or other Nickelback lovers, then you might take offence, either because you thought I was implying something about you, or because you are defensive about your love for them. If, however, I said that they were not my thing, but that I didn’t fault anyone who liked them, you probably would not take offence. And while that last case might understate my level of dislike, I’m not lying about my opinion of Nickelback, just moderating it to avoid causing unnecessary strife."
Then he asked, "Follow me so far?"
She nodded, and said, "Sure, that makes sense. Your last example sounds like a polite way of saying you don’t like something while also reassuring the other person that you don’t look down on them for liking it."
"Yup. Now, for the second example. A classic." Then in a falsetto tone he said, "Does this make my ass look fat?"