Hard candy, Brass and Wooden legs in the closet

Outspoken, Blunt, Frank, Assertive, Straightforward, Direct, Rude, Ghetto, Trailer Trash, All-mouth-No-Action. Have you ever been labeled as one of these terms? This writer has had her full share of labels.

My roommate loves the movie The Proposal. I was not a fan of it so much, because, there is hardly any romance movies that are realistic, and this is clearly one of them. So there we are watching The Proposal one warm night.

There is a part where Margaret fell out with one of her co-worker, Bob and he called her a "poisonous b**". And for a moment, I was struck, so I continued to watch the movie. It made me look at what people thought of women who are not 'flirty thirty in flowery dresses'. Now you think its ironic, me watching a romantic comedy, trying to build a mental level ground with a fictional character. As the movie went on, you come to understand Margaret, and we come to know her and see her vulnerability. Especially when she explains the two sparrows/robins tattoo on her back, and when Bob, whom she fired, called her that mean word, she cried silently, its as though she became human.

Just for speaking out, you alienate yourself, and people despise you. It takes a hard stomach to speak out, especially when you are standing alone...in the path of a back-hoe... and no one is there with you. In fact someone maybe there, but they are urging the back-hoe operator to mow you down...just for blowing the whistle. This applies to passionate people. People who are like that one tooth in a toothless mouth who is determined to stay and make a difference, or who just wants the world to see what is happening, or who just simply wants to be different, but not in a 'Mean Girls' kind of manner.

Popularity never came my way in school. I was as ordinary as they come. Just as Oprah put the O in generOsity, I put the O in Oddball. Whenever I spoke up, I was constantly shot down, or seen as insensitive, dummy, pervert even. Those were hard times as a teenager. As a young adult, I am now seen as a snob. While, I certainly don't agree with that term, I have learned to listen to people more, not to change their minds or their opinion of me, but to give them a voice, to be a human they can admire, someone who they remembered giving them a listening ear. Sometimes, I fail, and sometimes, I pass. No one pats my back, because its life, and it is hard all around.

So, my fellow shareholders in the Outspeakers Club: shed those silent tears in your lovely pillows at nights and get up in the morning and keep your heads high, you have every right to live in the world as the next silent crime-fighter, live your life and WIN!

2010©Lisa Marie Bonaparte

Insight