One Silly Word

The other day Professor Hartman made a comment that immediately stuck in my head. While he was showing us how to set up our blog he created a new post as an example. I forget exactly what he wrote in it but it was some introductory word like, "hey" or "welcome". He then showed us how to delete a post if we didn't like it. He said he would delete the aforementioned post because it was, "just one silly word, and who cares about one silly word?" That got me thinking. In the right context, one word can mean a lot. I know he said it in a, who cares about a one word blog post sort of way, but it got me thinking about all the different ways one word can change a situation. I'm going to give you two examples in which a simple yes or no answer changes the entire outcome of the character's lives (all situations are fabrications).

Will you marry me?

Will you marry me? Yes.

Steve really likes Jessica and they've been dating for about 2 years now. So Steve decides he's going to take Jessica out on a nice date and pop the question. He buys a very expensive ring, makes reservations, and gets a haircut. They're having a very nice meal and Steve decides the moment is right. He gets down on one knee, pulls the box out of his pocket, opens it up, and asks Jessica to marry him. She bursts into tears of joy because she has been waiting for this moment all her life. She says yes about 100 times, they live happily ever after.

Will you marry me? No.

Steve really likes Jessica and they've been dating for about 2 years now. So Steve decides he's going to take Jessica out on a nice date and pop the question. He buys a very expensive ring, makes reservations, and gets a haircut. They're having a very nice meal and Steve decides the moment is right. He gets down on one knee, pulls the box out of his pocket, opens it up, and asks Jessica to marry him. She gets a horrified look on her face and tells Steve no. She's just not ready for that kind of commitment right now. Things become weird in their relationship, they break up because Jessica needs space, they drift apart and form separate lives with other people.

Do you like this dress?

Do you like this dress? Yes.

Mark and his fiancée, Kelly, are getting ready to go out on a date. Kelly has been trying to figure out what to wear for about an hour now and they're cutting it close to make it to the restaurant on time. She tries on a dress that Mark does not particularly care for. Kelly asks Mark if he likes the dress. Mark says, "Yes." Kelly decides to wear that dress since Mark has given his approval. They go to dinner, get married, and live happily ever after.

Do you like this dress? No.

Mark and his fiancée, Kelly, are getting ready to go out on a date. Kelly has been trying to figure out what to wear for about an hour now and they're cutting it close to make it to the restaurant on time. She tries on a dress that Mark does not particularly care for. Kelly asks Mark if he likes the dress. Mark says, "No." But all Kelly hears is, "no, you look fat. Try that red dress that makes you look less fat." Kelly and Mark then get into an argument about how Kelly isn't pretty enough and no matter what Mark says it's always the wrong thing, because that's what we (guys) do. They then break up, drift apart, and resent each other for the rest of their lives.

So I've just shown two ways in which changing the simple yes or no answer can have drastically different outcomes. I could go on for hours on all kinds of topics about how one word can change everything. But I'll let you guys think about that. So, I guess in this situation everyone cares about that one silly word.


Moral of the story: Guys, we can't win.