“You’re too sensitive” doesn’t end the conversation. It ends the trust.

GRATITUDE

WHAT THIS MEANS

Calling someone sensitive is a way of declining to answer. It moves the subject from what you did to whether they are allowed to mind, which stops the argument and also stops them bringing you things. The next time something hurts them they will decide not to mention it, and you will think everything is fine.

If that phrase is in your mouth, swap it for a question about which part landed badly. You can still think the reaction was large and take the complaint seriously at the same time. And if it gets said to you, their saying it does not settle whether you were right.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

Who stopped bringing things to you after you called them oversensitive?

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