All They Could See Was My Invisible Tat

Submitted Anonymously by a Reader

I’ve wandered through life being corrected by everyone. I don’t mean my parents or other authorities correcting me as I was growing up. No, those who have had differing opinions from mine have always taken the upper hand, setting me straight, negating me, interrupting me as I spoke.
I began taking an amused view of their behavior. It was becoming quite hilarious how I could be so wrong about everything, so utterly “correctable”, no matter what I said or did. I actually would chuckle sometimes.
Eventually, I have come to make light of all such correction from peers. “Oh, I’m probably wrong again! Nothing new!” or “I’ll take it up with my boss, if you don’t mind,” said with an ornery smile.
It was as if I was not valid, except for a platform from which others could promote their viewpoint.
One day I thought, “It’s as if I have a tattoo on my forehead that says, “Correct me, PLEASE! I’m the one you’ve been waiting for!” I began to take on that hilarious thought and stand taller, realizing I could circumvent their pushy ways by finding them quite entertaining.
The day came when I said it out loud. I actually responded to a detractor by saying, “I see you’re one of those who can see my invisible tattoo!” This one looked at me as if I were nuts. That added to my amusement.
I’ve come to see myself as merely a bit out of place in a world gone wonky, as someone who might have been accepted a century ago. I even heard a phrase that I like, that possibly defines me to a T. I’m an “Old Soul”. I like it. I like it a lot.
Now when someone corrects me (and I don’t mean when I’m wrong, when I’ve asked for opinion, or when it’s an actual authority like a parent or boss) I answer with, “I see you’ve discovered my invisible tattoo, that says ‘Correct Me'” And I walk away. With the adamant ones, who negate every word that comes out of my mouth, I just keep saying, “Please do not negate me,” over and over and over. I become a broken record to them, helping them see what they are doing to me.
It’s pretty effective.
And I’m still laughing a little, although they are beginning to take me a little more seriously.