The words were bad, but the tone of voice was worse. So eye-rolly. So devoid of warmth. So authentically dismissive. As if there were truly no topic less interesting and less important than me. There was a good writing lesson in there—that being dismissed is worse than being scorned. In a different frame of mind, I might have paused to think about it: Of course not mattering is worse. It means you didn’t even register. It means you’re not even worth getting mad about. It means you’re literally nobody.
