I will upset you.

You will upset me.

I could stop here and say "Deal with it" but that is not the message I want to get out. 10 years ago, that is exactly what I would have said, then you would have had to choose to punch me in the back of the head, walk away, or grab my arm and have a good long discussion on why I'm such a jerk. 

But that is not the message.

The message is that we will have our conflicts. I may say something that is too blunt for your liking, almost bordering on disrespectful. However, hardly ever is my intent to disrespect somebody. I am not a linguistic professional and, most-likely, neither are you. I do not always understand all people in the audience and I stick mostly to a topic, ignoring the personal nature of a discussion. This is who I am. I cannot change it but I have toned it down a bit. 

This is me. 

I have an underlying focus in my head at all times...the focus is on the issue. I use "you" in third-party a lot, not necessarily to mean "you".  My frustrations are usually directed towards a third-party, invisible bad guy. This is how it is.

I rely on other people being "the bigger man". I rely on other people being more civil in the human arena. And that is what I always need in a discussion. The human aspects of life very much escape my thoughts. It's only until a few minutes after I say something that I go "Damnit. That was probably upsetting." I don't have the warning bell in my head PRIOR to doing or saying something. And, yes, I have tried the 10 second rule and so on...the bottom line is that it doesn't come across my mind until it comes across my lips. 

So, if I have upset you at any point in my life, then I do apologize for upsetting you. Hardly ever is that my intent, especially these days. We grow in time but hardly do we change. We become aware of our shortfalls, and often can recognize them but hardly can change them. So, with that said, just know that I may upset you at some point...but if you think of the issue, and only the issue, I will have faith that you will know that the issue is what I am speaking of.

And, if you can't cope with that, I would understand if you did not want to speak with me further..as I understand that I am not the easiest to speak with.