I’m Just Teasing! You’re Too Sensitive. Toughen up!

Narcissists have mean, nasty tongues. Duh! Unfortunately, the social convention of “niceness” puts a cramp in their style. Plan B: Couch the meanness in humor. It’s called teasing. Now they can be as mean as they want, with plausible deniability. They ain’t dun nuthin’. You’re just too sensitive.

As far back as I can remember, Dad teased me. Constantly. Mom put it down to his whole family being “smart lips.”

But this wasn’t ordinary, ridiculous teasing. This wasn’t calling me “Thou pribbling pottle-deep skainsmate!” or “Thou qualling ill-breeded popinjay!” Ah, Shakespeare knew how to do insults the right way!

No, these teases always contained a kernel of truth. As the custodian of my character, Dad believed it was his God-given right to point out my many flaws. And as the obedient child, it was incumbent on me to be humble and open to his criticisms. That’s what made his teasing so painful. It also denied me any grounds for lodging a valid complaint.

Here’s just one little example. No matter what time I got up in the morning, I got teased. Getting up early was met with a sarcastic, “Well! To what do we deserve this honor!?!” Getting up late was met with, “Well, look who’s up! Good morning, or should I say, ‘Good Afternoon’? Hahahahaha!”

I know, I know. It doesn’t sound mean. That Lenora girl must be too darn sensitive, right? Ah, but you don’t know the backstory. There’s always a backstory, isn’t there?

To read the full backstory, current story and future story, please click here!

Originally published at blogs.psychcentral.com.