Facing it!

Excuses, excuses and more excuses......that is all I get to hear....excuses that people make for the ones they love and excuses that people make for themselves!
“He behaves this way because he has had a very disturbed childhood" mumbled my friend through her tears when her husband suddenly decided to leave her and go off to Puerto Rico.
“He is a very intelligent child but the problem is he is very innocent and mischievous and does not study" wailed the matronly lady next door when her 20-year old son failed his college exams.
"She was very lonely in Bangalore and that is why she got involved with wrong kind of guy. However we will not be in touch with her anymore." reasoned my friend when her sister married a pot-smoking bartender-cum-DJ from Bangalore.
Who do we need to justify ourselves and our loved ones to? Why can’t we face some facts of life? Why can’t the lady next door see that her son is a wastrel and philanderer? Why can’t my friend realize that her sister is just rebelling and does not need to be estranged at this point of time in her life! Is it necessary to twist facts and make them appear acceptable so that it is easier for us to live with it?
Whatever be their reason, I have always refused to make excuses, either for myself or for the ones I love. The outcome can actually be quite funny at times! Just the other day, it was almost 8.30 pm and I was still in my lab. It had been a VERY long day and at the end of it I realized that there was a mistake in the procedure I was following and I would have to repeat the whole experiment the next day. Two undergrads, who work in the next lab, chose this unfortunate moment to try and humor me. They came over and started ridiculing the big red dot that Indian girls wear on the forehead (also known as bindi!).
Well, people who know me must know that I am not the one to mince words when I am angry! That particular day these poor undergrads were at the receiving end. They took it surprisingly well though, because they just stared at me with blank expressions till I had vented all my anger and frustration on them. "Wow! She is cranky today" whistled Brad. “She is a girl and you have to take into account the lunar cycle" pondered Matt.
This was exasperating. They just didn’t get the point! I thought that the time had come to drive the nail home with one strike. “Face it; I am not 'nice'. I am a bitch" was all I said as I walked off.
The next day of course, I did not feel too good about being rude to them. I had even made up my mind that I would go over and apologize when Matt came over on his own. “Dude, you are so cool.....we totally dig you!" was all he said. I did not quite understand his terminology but I could fathom that he was not exactly upset and that me feel slightly better about "speakin' ma mind"