If there's a phrase I hate more than "relax and it will happen" it must be "chin up".
For some reason, when someone says, "chin up" I feel insulted. I wonder why this is? I think perhaps it is the implication that I am wallowing in self-pity, or that I am upsetting myself over nothing. It is a stupid archaic phrase that belongs in a Enid Blyton novel:
"Mother, I was going to the shop with my ha'penny to purchase some ginger beer when I tripped over Betsy's skipping rope and hurt my knee."
"There there Susan, it is only a grazed knee. Worse things happen at sea, now chin up."
I have been in a funny mood lately. Normally I keep my woes to myself, but this past couple of days I have poured my heart out to two random people. One of them is a friend on a wedding forum who didn't know what to say (look, my AF had arrived and I was in a bad place OK) and the other is a relative in Australia whom I haven't seen for years and years. Said relative is 33-ish and had just got engaged so I sent an email to congratulate her. She replied asking how my wedding plans are going and whether I want kids. So I sent her a massive email telling her everything. The reply? Something along the lines of, "Oh, I am so sorry. My friend had a baby by IVF. There is hope. Chin up."
I think I will go back to keeping things to myself.
Ouch! "There is hope" AND "Chin up" side by side. AND the assumption at IVF is the solution to everything. That really hurts.
ReplyDelete