Let’s Talk! – Dear Angry Henchmen

Are your screens off, and are you ready to take off on a round of lively conversation? Or intense pondering? Well, I have to admit that today’s prompt had me flustered. I thought it might be lines in a poem – and maybe they are – but my Google search came up empty. And so, I have to take it on the fly.

First and foremost, this sounds like the beginning of an address. I have no clue who the speaker could be. Maybe the person whose audience is said henchmen. It might also be a person from the group who is trying to make a different point about something that has obviously been upsetting. It could be an opponent from outside trying to talk the “henchmen” out of their stance.

Dear and angry – what a combo! It sounds like the counterpart to annoying and serene. Which, let’s face it, nobody would use in an address. So, let’s agree, to say “dear angry Somebody” is a polite way of addressing somebody whose mindset is bothering and needs to be dealt with. As to henchmen – I have trouble with the term in itself. It sounds a bit outdated. Something a Shakespeare play or a historical novel might use. In modern times, the synonym for follower has taken on the pejorative meaning of faithful followers or supporters of somebody whose practices are dishonest. People who are even willing to do wrong and create acts of violence on behalf of their leader.

Now, we have the picture of some really dangerous and upset people. And it seems that there are more of them around worldwide than we have ever seen before. I doubt that is the case, though. We are just prone to receive more information due to the news that we receive via all kinds of media. And I won’t name all the countries in which we see violence on the rise as the result of following or unfollowing a person of leadership.

Dear angry henchmen … will such a speaker be heard by a group of opponents frozen in their tracks? Doesn’t this sound almost ridiculously tame? Doesn’t it have a vibe like dear, stupid enemies? Isn’t the term “henchmen” a clear attack after that of calling them dear?

The other day in a podcast I heard somebody say that we best put our arguments forward, no matter in what field, when we obey the HALT method. Halt is an acronym for Hungry, Angry, Lonesome, or Tired. If we feel any of these, we should retract and rethink. In other words, we should eat, calm down, look for companionship, and get rest. I found this quite astonishing. And looking into some arguments that I have had in my life – not that they were changed for the better – was that I was mostly angry, lonely, or exhausted. Mind, a foodie rarely goes hungry – so I don’t have to take this into the equation for myself.

Of course, discussion works at its best when all sides agree to act on the HALT method and to be willing to listen and to consider the other sides’ arguments. What if the other side is too angry to listen, though? Turning our back (because they don’t observe HALT) and pretending their woes are not happening would be ignoring the issues of the entire group. Also, it would signal that they ARE left to themselves (which would create the “L” in HALT for them). Trying to approach with an olive branch IS probably the best way to get attention and to be perceived as someone willing to reach across the abyss.

It’s the choice of words that creates the basis of a discussion. It is very much about what you say AND how you are saying it. So, approaching somebody whose issues I don’t understand, I might acknowledge that we are on opposite sides. A “dear opponent” or, in a war, “esteemed enemy” is stating the truth without belittlement. “Dear angry henchmen”, though, doesn’t cut the mustard.