spoonie-living:

puolikarhu:

Life skill

Learn to kindly but firmly say “that’s personal”.

You owe no one information about your body, your opinions, your family, your health, not even your favorite food if u dont wanna share.

A kinda creepy guy at work asks what u did on the weekend? A well-meaning relative asks abt your health problems? A friend of a friend asks about your partner? Maybe smile for a second and then say “you know, that’s actually kinda personal” and change the subject or give a very general answer if u want.

You are entitled to privacy and to choosing who to share what with.

This is a really underrated approach to shutting down invasive questions about your illness or disability. Not only is it part of a social script (=socially acceptable), but being part of a script means they are less likely to push back or be offended by the boundary you’re setting.

Want to level it up a bit or make a point? Instead of making it sound like it’s a personal topic for you, try deploying a little condescension and careful wording to imply that that person is asking a universally inappropriate question. “That’s a little personal, don’t you think?” + the side eye can make a lot of people think twice.

Your mileage may vary on this (some people are just rude forever), but it’s certainly one for the toolbox.