Things Your Mom Said You’d Understand One Day, And Now You Do
Don’t end things on a bad note
As a teenager, I’d say all sorts of nasty things to my parents. We all did. We’d tell them we hated them. We’d tell them they were stupid. Luckily, they’re parents, and they won’t abandon you over being a typical bratty teen. But my mom would warn me not to say things like that to others – not to end things on a bad note. “Don’t burn bridges. You never know when you’ll need to cross one again.” I went into my twenties feeling fully justified in telling off bad bosses when I quit, not realizing I’d later need a reference. I said everything on my mind during friend breakups, not realizing that ex-friend may one day be the hiring party at a company I interviewed for. You just don’t know how life will play out, and you rarely get anything good from burning bridges. But you will often wish you hadn’t.
