Stick and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. Or so we like saying. But there are some experiences that stay with us long after we have moved on. Here, some people talk about such memories. 

Writesh Shrestha, Student
The rudest behavior that I’ve ever had was when I went to get my license. The government officials over there where particularly arrogant and were indifferent about the people around them. We had been waiting for hours to get our papers approved but the government officer who was supposed to do it was busy talking to someone at a time when he should have been working. He paid no heed to people who were there. I feel the officials there couldn’t care less about helping and assisting people and simply came to work because they had to. 

Reejun Pradhan, Fashion stylist
I think you meet the rudest people at government offices. I generally don’t enjoy going to government offices but the rudeness of the employees there makes the whole thing even more stressful. Everyone talks very curtly and if you get confused with the directions, they speak to you like you’re stupid. The last time I had to go to a government office was back in September to get my license and I encountered some very impolite employees. Also, people are always pushing one another in waiting lines and queues.

Mallika Satyal, Student
Just recently, I went shopping with a friend. We went into a shop in Lagankhel where we both ended up trying a hoodie. I struggled a bit while taking it off while my friend, who is a bit leaner than me, took it off easily. That’s when a staff at the shop decided to blatantly body shame me, rudely comparing my physique to that of my friend. The tone of his voice sounded condescending and he was extremely rude.

Aditya Man Joshi, Artist
I had always been a huge coin collector. One of my most prized possessions was a coin that I received from a Muslim friend. The coin was used during their Namaz sessions. So you can imagine my surprise when it suddenly disappeared from the collection. Weeks later, I found it at my maternal uncle’s house. When I confronted him, he denied it, saying he had it long before he ever came to my place. I was furious but I let it go. A few months later, he came back to return the coin himself. 

Arshila Aryal, Student
I was on a bus, on my way to college. There were plenty of empty seats at the back. When a man got on and sat right next to me, there were no red flags. At first. Throughout the ride, he kept pressing closer and closer. When I asked him to move back, he obliged but then he started edging closer to me again. I politely asked him to move to the back. He didn’t. So I got up and moved instead. Few minutes later, he stood up and came to sit right beside me. I got off at the next stop.

Abhishek Pokhrel, Entrepreneur
Back when I was in school, I was a poor student. I especially struggled with Mathematics and got very low marks in it. But there would be times when I would get motivated to work extra hard to understand the logic to solve the problems. This one time the teacher was explaining the solution to my bench partner when I requested him to explain it to me too. Instead of doing that he said it would be better to explain the solution to an animal as it would understand it faster and just left. This happened back in 2005 when I was in grade nine but it still hurts me when I think of it.

 
• experiences
 
• memories
 
• rude