Its all in the delivery

The other day at work, I found myself standing at the desk with Dr. M and Sherrie. We were talking about a particular patient. They mentioned that he was a teacher. I was like, "huh! I wonder what he teaches?" Sherrie, my bud and my pal, had to chime in, "SCHOOL!" Thanks Sherrie! Sheesh! And she had to follow that comment up with a smart aleky grin. She was quite proud of herself. I had to admit...she was right and it was funny. There's nothing like someone having to give their two cents worth. But I got to thinking that afternoon that comments like that can either come across as funny or really just jerky. Its all in the delivery and the intentions of the deliverer.
I wasn't the least bit offended by Sherrie's comment. But I thought of the millions of similar comments that people have made in the past that have led me to think...this person is a jerk. Their comments are meant to be really derogatory. Their delivery comes from a point high above the very nose that they look down upon you from. Even still, I had to stop and ask myself, "Could some of these seemingly rude comments actually not have been intended to come across the way that they did?" Is it possible that I might have been a little more sensitive on that particular day and took it the wrong way? Or could it be that that person had a DRY humor like Pete and thought he was being funny but the delivery was all wrong?
Don't get me wrong, I know there are a lot of sarcastic, rude people out there that live to make others look and feel stupid. And there are people that make rude comments and try to follow them up with, "What?? I was JUST KIDDING!!" That's really not cool. Because, that just says to me that they are probably just too much of a pansy to admit that they were really just being a jerk and were afraid of your response (flipping them off, stomping away, crying or whacking them in the shoulder!).
So, if you are the kind of person that likes to make DUH! comments to others, do a little introspection to find out what your intentions are; are you really trying to just make a joke? Are you trying to make that person look stupid (SHAME ON YOU!). Are you just a rude individual that thinks that you are better than every one else? Are you a sarcastic know it all that likes to stomp on nice people? Then think about what your delivery style is....are you being really condescending? Are you funny? Are you going to regret making that smarty pants comment?
On the other hand, if you are the person that is receiving the DUH!! comment, stop and think for a moment before you react; Are you feeling open to humor at that time? Are you being overly sensitive? Do you hate the person that is making the DUH! comment to you? I meant...do you have a deep dislike for that person? Are you able to laugh at yourself?
I have an older brother named Kevin. He is 4 years older than me. Growing up, life was really hard having a brother that was always 2 steps ahead of me and that thought torture was a perfect extra curricular sport. Any opportunity to make his little sister suffer or pay for being a dumb, little, bratty sister...all the better! But as I was thinking about all of this the other day, I realized that I might be more inclined to be a little more sensitive to DUH! comments now, because I was the BUTT of so many jokes and pranks growing up. So next time some jokester gets a good laugh at my expense, before I get ready to kick them in the shins, I am going to stop and ask myself (if I didn't think it was too funny), "Is this just my inner dumb, bratty little sister inside about to cry or is this PUNK just not funny!!!"