Our word has a label for everything. Our communication depends on labels. How would we know how to tell someone we value that pair of shoes without calling them what they are? How would someone know we love to eat an apple unless we use the word, apple?
Or a table.
Or a car.
Or our hair.
However. Sometimes, labels can be bad. There are times when labels give a false or negative meaning. They might make us raise our eyebrows about the person or thing in question. Like someone calling me a queer. Or a nerd. Or a snowflake. Immediately, it drops the value of my character to those who hear such things.
If we cut into the reality of things, if we halve that label and see what’s inside, many times we find that it was meant to do nothing but hurt the person who received such a description.
Labels can go both ways, it seems.
Labels are necessary.
Labels are good.
Labels are unnecessary.
Labels are bad.
You know those little Label Guns that will mark up anything we choose? I wonder if there should be “Label Gun” restrictions? Or perhaps we should make label guns illegal altogether.
But then? What would we do with those little tabs at the top of file folders?
Do you see what I mean about labels.
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“When you label me, you negate my existence.” – Sandy Stone
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“Labels are for cans, not people.” – Anthony Rapp
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“The most offensive thing in the world is labeling someone, thinking that we understand them by a category.” – Yoko Ono
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On the label, label, label…
