Ask Yourself – Am I Causing Someone To Cover?

Covering is altering behaviors, appearance, or other parts of our identity to avoid unwanted attention or to make others comfortable.

Sometimes our actions or words – whether subconscious or not – can cause people around us to cover because we’ve made them feel like some aspect of their identity is unacceptable.

Consequently, we make them feel shamed or excluded. Have you ever joked with coworkers about someone else’s accent? Or voiced judgment about a stranger’s “unprofessional” tattoos? Or assigned a nickname to someone whose name you find difficult to pronounce? You may have unknowingly made fun of a trait that someone around you now feels compelled to hide.

Give this a try:

1.     Stop and think about judgments you vocalize and how they may impact other people.

2.     Reflect on where those judgments came from and whether they’re even true.

Our words have power. Let’s do our best to make sure they don’t do harm.