How To Play It Cool

Mar. 7, 2012

By Johanna de Silentio info

Johanna de Silentio is the combined effort of Sarah Heuer and Chrissy Stockton. They are best friends who drink ...

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There are often instances in life when one feels compelled to ‘totally lose their sh-t’ and have some sort of severe, borderline-insane reaction to what you at the time perceive to be the worst possible thing to ever happen. Typically speaking, your response often exacerbates the situation. Here’s how to make it easier on you and everybody else.

Consider what you are about to say then reduce it by 75%. ?Hysterical people tend to be verbose. Verbose people tend to come off as hysterical even if they aren’t. When you are going to send an e-mail or text, the point of which is to break the fourth wall in some way (confront someone, attempt to define your relationship, any number of probably ill-advisable actions) you will feel inclined to write a thousand words more than you ought to. Here’s a tip: delete any sentences that make character accusations, that state your assumptions about that person’s behavior/thoughts as fact, or that use any emotionally-charged words more intense than ‘feel’ (i.e. “I feel really bad because…” versus “I am absolutely devastated because…”).

If you have more than three cocktails, lock up your phone. ??Here is the problem with the collision between alcohol and insecurity. The latter sucks, but at least sober you’re likely to be inhibited enough to refrain from texting anything and instead just furtively check every minute and a half to see if you have any messages. Drunk you’ll be like, “Haaaaiiiiii I got this, I’m cool, just gonna break the ice and see wassuuuuup.” This may not be the worst thing in the world, but one brief or delayed response and you turn into everyone’s favorite villain, Dozen Texts Typo Psycho.

If you think you’re being ignored, don’t ask if you are. ?Here’s why. If you are being ignored, you’re just digging your own grave. If you aren’t being ignored, you look like a psycho. Rule of thumb, if you haven’t gotten a response to something and you think it’s a good idea to follow up, wait twice the time you’ve already waited. Believe it or not, some people go to work and take naps and close their laptops on occasion. It may not actually be personal.

No passive-aggressive social media updates. Ever. ?This should be self-explanatory but allow me to elaborate: no pointed song lyrics, no suggestive/ sexy messages to other people meant to elicit jealousy, no pictures of you having a GrEaT tImE after a breakup or fight, no threats, no talk of depression, etc. TC mark

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image – Emery_Way

This piece originally appeared at PHILOLZOPHY.

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  • Annie

    Where was this 6 months ago…

  • Anonymous

    This is actually good! Perhaps coz it’s pretty straightforward unlike the rest of thought catalog with their tryhard sarcasm/irony/satire

  • SusanDerkins

    I need to print this out and put it on the fridge. 

  • http://twitter.com/tannnyaya Tanya Salyers

    Ah, I wish you would have added more!  Good tips, I want to broadcast them to people in my social networking circles…

  • Anonymous

    Breathe…maybe drink some green tea…take a run. Type a smiley. :)

  • Sophia

    Oh man, I can think of at least three people I know that break every single one of these. Social tact, people, social tact.

  • Samantha

    “No passive-aggressive social media updates. Ever.”

    I have a friend who is not talking to me at the moment because she thought that I was being passive-aggressive in my updates towards her… the funny thing is that nothing was about her. How does my comment on people cutting in front of me relate to her? And does it count as breaking the rule if someone thinks you are?

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