When I was 18 my father died very suddenly and unexpectedly. I didn’t open up about it for close to 3 days. On that evening, I went to the park near my house with some friends and as we walked back to my house I finally started to talk about what I was feeling. While we were walking, we passed by a house with some men sitting on a porch who tried to get our attention, but we ignored them. As we passed by, one of the men remarked that we should have compassion (and not ignore them). Now, I’m not one to yell or raise my voice, but something in me just snapped. I yelled back at them, “You want compassion?!? My dad just died!!” The man responded back saying, “If that’s true I’m sorry, but if not, you’re a bitch.” It’s been over 10 years now and I still think about it sometimes when I pass by that house. No, you are not entitled to my conversation or my company. No, I didn’t lie about my father, and no, I wasn’t a bitch I was in emotional shock.
