In the midst of an actually decent day, I found myself slightly frustrated over a work problem.. and so I decided to take a mental break to work on organizing my office. Unfortunately, in the process, I saw something that was a reminder of two friends recently making fun of me behind my back.. about something that wasn’t true.

I laughed it off at the time, but suddenly it’s really bugging me. As if my 13 year old self was annoyed, but too damn shy to say anything. Or maybe it’s that propriety thing rearing its ugly head.. .. have I been too long in the ’silence is golden’ rut?  Obviously I couldn’t correct the person in the moment.. they were accusing laughing that I was posturing.. so it would sound exactly like I was deluding myself into believing the lie.

I know that I am too literal for some of my friends’ sensibilities.  (I totally empathize with Bones‘ Dr. Brennan most days.)  But assumptions like this are the exact reason is why I am this way. Maybe it shouldn’t bother me so much.  Maybe everyone else should just deal with the fact that I like being understood.

sigh.

When someone makes assumptions about you.. how do you handle it?  How do you explain to someone that you were not, in fact, lying about yourself?  How do you explain your true self?  Or do you not bother and tell them all to bugger off, as one friend suggested?