By: Danette Gamble, Kansas City Star Reader Advisory Panel

…may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.

This is an adage I’ve heard my whole life.

The meaning--Just because someone calls you a pig, doesn’t mean you’re a pig. (See Sarah Palin).

Name-calling is something people revert to when they can’t give facts to back up their opinion.

So how is Larry Johnson, Running Back for the Kansas City Cheifs, calling someone a slur on a twitter a big deal? Consider the source. Was it classless? Consider the source. Was it disrespectful? Consider the source.

I’ve been called many names in my life. Those of us who blog know we take that risk every time we post an opinion. I’ve had comments from people who’ve called me a liberal kool-aid drinker, a racist, a right-wing nut, a left-wing loon, and these were all comments regarding the same blog!

Name-calling doesn’t really hurt anyone; however, words can hurt you. Take gossip and rumors, for instance.

We only gossip about people and things we find interesting or unusual.

Unfortunately, gossip many times involves jealousy. And, of all the human emotions, jealousy is the most dangerous. The first recorded murder on earth was over jealousy. Remember the biblical story of Cain’s murdering Abel because God liked Abel’s sacrifices more?

Take into consideration Hannibal Lector’s answer regarding “What are we jealous of?” in the movie Silence of the Lambs. We are jealous of what we see every day.

So words can hurt you. They can ruin a reputation. They can destroy a career. They can mortally wound a person. However, name-calling only makes the caller look bad.

If someone calls you a name, it’s not really what they say that affects you, it’s how you react.

So let’s stop being so thin-skinned. (Oops! I said “skin.” I’m sure there are going to be some comments about me being a “racist” now.)

I’m like rubber. You’re like glue. Whatever you call me bounces off me and sticks to you.