Recently, I have had to deal with NO!
"NO" of course comes in many packages:
A friend dies "Oh No..."
A child reaches for a forbidden thing "NO! Hot!"
The dog makes a mess on the floor. "NO! Bad Dog!"
Are you happy? "no.."
Are you unhappy? "--- No..."
Eat your spinach.. "NO! (ow)"
Does this hurt? "no"
DOES THIS HURT?? "... ow... n o o o..."
Joseph Campbell discusses in the Hero's Journey that The Hero may come to a Gate Keeper now and again who will challenge the Hero and try to prevent him from continuing his quest: To find and secure the 'boons.' Conflict is essential to every good story, no?
The gatekeeper represents a "NO" that makes us stop for a moment and then find a way around or over or under or through the Gate.. unless we want to fail and end the quest.
(Or see the foolishness of it? )
Sometimes the "No" is a boon in and of itself. How many times have we been stopped at a Red Light (no, don't proceed) as a fire truck comes screaming through right in front of us? Or, have we missed the last seat on a doomed airplane .. No Room... keeping us alive?
Those made up instances are simple ideas to sort of mitigate the sting of a rebuke or a rejection or some other No that may be waiting for us unawares.
The on line dictionary definitions?
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=no+definition
(I wonder why that isn't a direct link? A "NO?"
That link, of course, is a cop out, no?
We have so many ways to say No. In polite society, we may apologize and say, "Sorry... no.." (In the voice of Ken Jennings hosting Jeopardy!?)
Tone in punctuation and in tone of voice and attitude make a world of difference when simply declining an offer or a request. Of course, in polite society, we attempt to become deferential to soften the denial. Slamming the door of opportunity in one's face would be the opposite of that, no?
For dramatic effect the door slam can be useful. The broad hand of a LeBron James denying an opponent a basket a sort of a door slam.
Rejected!!!
On Jeopardy, when a contestant supplies the wrong response to a clue, the host's tone is conciliatory. "Sorry. No" Not "NO you stupid moron!!"
As an actor, I have faced No! a thousand times. Rejection is a thing.
Rejection is a thing that one must face with the hope that something will change and something good will come of the rejection.
But, if the rejection is phrased to cut and wound the supplicant, that No is on the Gate Keeper. To deliberately reject someone, with prejudice, that denial may be intentionally just mean. It's a good plot point for a melodrama, but in our simple lives, to preserve some dignity in the situation, kind people take a moment and with or without or a reason.. must remember to say, "Sorry. No..
Or? Even "No... thank you."
No?
michaelsheehan
