A lot of people kiss their pets or non-human animals in general. I find that very weird. I understand that it is a sign of affection but it seems so off. One reason is that I doubt whether animals really understand this. Also it seems to be on a level of intimacy to me that I find weird sharing with a pet. Not necessarily romantically or sexually (that would be even more weird and wrong and probably illegal). But it is still “more”. I am not sure whether I can really explain why exactly I find that weird.
Anyway, what is something that is weird to you but not to most other people?
This has always bugged me. There’s a lot of stress on the “your loss” part, as if to say “I’m better for I didn’t lose anything today”. At best it’s trite, and at worst it sounds sarcastic. I think that little rote gesture is about the worst thing anyone can say at that moment.
Just say “I’m sorry to hear you’re going through this, so let me know where I can help” or “Jerry was a great guy ; I’m gonna miss him.”
It feels very impersonal, which is probably because/why it’s used so often by detectives investigating deaths. There’s a noncommittal “… but yes you’re a suspect, and where were you at 7:22 pm last night?” that goes with it. I’m sorry for your loss, but what did you gain?
As a human talking to a friend you can probably do better. But think it out and practice it beforehand, because saying something, anything, is better than getting tongue-tied and saying nothing. Or worse, avoiding them altogether.
One I’ve always appreciated is “that sucks” (or equivalent) without additional qualifiers.