Don't Kick The Puppy

In my mind, I see issues, or at least any topic that elicits a response from an individual, as puppies. Most people can attest to a situation in which they bring up a topic of conversation and someone jumps down your throat about it. The person who brought up the topic kicked the other person's puppy.  And this isn't to say that the puppy is ONLY theirs, more like it's a puppy that they chose to care about, or a puppy that they connect with personally.  This thought first came about when I heard people say to others who looked pissed or at least agitated, "Who kicked your puppy?" Insulting someone, or something they connect with is, in my eyes, the same as kicking their metaphorical puppy.

How hard a puppy is kicked can be judged in two VERY different we ways. The first is obvious; how extreme the person bringing up the topic is about it. The second is more ambiguous:  those topics that are so touchy to begin with, that simply saying the name of the topic will send 30% of the people within hearing range into a state of rabid defensiveness.  Those two instances I have classified as punting the puppy across the room. In true second case, it describes the fact that they respond as if their puppy was punted across the room.

I truly connected this metaphor when I was in the middle of a LGBT support group. I had brought up how, before I first came out, I had built myself up, arming myself, against every negative response I could have expected to get when coming out.  This was stemmed from all the horror stories I've heard about kids coming out in their schools.  An image popped into my mind:

[The puppy represents any topic or subject that you feel compelled to protect.]

When I didn't get the negative response initially that I was expecting, all the pent up defensiveness had no where to go. Now, I am in that unfortunate, ever defensive mode where I tip-toe into every situation, waiting for someone to come and kick my puppy.

I thought that I would share this metaphor since I just had a classes where people were seriously punting puppies across the room.

Sincerely,
Lunch Box.