I HEARD WHAT YOU SAID… BUT I SMILED ANYWAY

To the two girls working in Truro Superdrug this afternoon.
Don’t worry, I heard the comments you made to each other about my appearance and my shorts. You spoke loud enough for most people to hear. It’s obviously not the first time you’ve had a giggle and made comments about another girl, but when you do it normally, the person you talk about probably looks away and you actually make them feel really sad inside. But today, by the looks on your faces, you really weren’t prepared for the massive cheesy smile I gave you!
Just so you know, your words didn’t hurt me. The looks you gave me did not either.
I do feel slightly saddened that you think it’s okay to speak about another female, or in fact anyone, in that way.
I don’t believe you gained anything from it apart from looking a little bit silly when you realized I heard you.
If somehow you end up reading this, as Cornwall is a very small place, can you be a little bit kinder with your words? Some people’s skin isn’t as thick as mine has become, and the next person’s might be very thin indeed.
So in response to your comments, I send back some love!
If you did your own hair and makeup for work today, you are both very talented. I could never get my winged liner or my ponytail that perfect!

We live in a world where kindness is more powerful than ever—and more necessary than ever, too. The smallest words can lift someone up or quietly crush them. What you said today may have seemed harmless to you, but for someone else, those few seconds could stay in their mind for a long time. I was lucky enough to be in a good place, confident enough to smile through it. But others might carry that moment home, sit with it, and let it chip away at how they see themselves. You never know what someone is battling behind their smile, so please, let’s be gentler with each other.

There’s already so much pressure on women—on all of us—to look, act, and be a certain way. Instead of feeding into that pressure, we should be each other’s support, not the reason someone questions their worth. Today could have been a moment of connection, of compliment, of shared humanity. But you chose judgment instead. I still send you love—not because you deserved it, but because I do. I choose to walk in kindness, and I hope one day you’ll make that same choice. Because lifting each other up feels a whole lot better than tearing each other down.