It’s funny what will make some people mad. It differs from person to person. While I’d like to believe that I’m always a patient person, but there are definitely some things that fare up in anger inside of me. Typically, though, I do not lash out at others with these feelings.

I don’t think I’ve ever written a piece of hate mail in my whole life.

I was brought up with the belief, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”

 

While there are absolutely times when people need to speak up – against terrorism, injustice, abuse… the list goes on – I never thought SOCKS would be a point of contention with one of my readers. Who would have thought a light-hearted article on socks at Christmas would push a person over the edge and make them send a nasty email to the writer?

Here is my Christmas article in the current issue of Edmonton Woman Magazine (November/December). Click the image to enlarge. You can also read it on the magazine’s site by clicking here.

After re-reading the article again after receiving the hate mail, I had to pause. My first thought was: “did this person and I read the same thing?”

Socks? Seriously? Don’t we have bigger problems in the world to speak-up about other than socks?

If you read the article just now, what do you think? Am I a bad, ungrateful, spoiled person who doesn’t care about others? You know what, don’t answer that. I know who I am. I love and celebrate the person I have become over the years. At the end of the day, what others think about me doesn’t matter – not one tiny bit.

In the spirit of Christmas, in a season of love, generosity and kindness, I forgive that angry person for sending hate out into the world. Life is too short to let that negativity fester. AND – I hope s/he receives a lovely pair of socks for Christmas.

Thanks for reading!

Merry Christmas!

 

– Alexis Marie Chute

 

Click here to read my other articles for Edmonton Woman magazine.