Spitting Blood

“If you fill your mouth with a razor, you will spit blood.”

This proverb is from Nigeria and it truly encompasses the opposite of what we see on social media. Or does it? Every day someone goes viral for putting up a video or a TikTok or a tweet roasting the hell out of someone. People get famous for being cruel. People post things like “I’m just speaking my truth,” or “I’m just being honest.” Lies. Those disclaimers are masks for one thing: license to be mean. These people cut others down with their words and do so gleefully under the guise of honesty. A million cuts through sharing, retweeting, crossposting, all to show that they have a sharp tongue. Even dating apps have people who lurk there just waiting to insult, injure, and humiliate whoever is on the other side of the phone.

The thing is, this proverb is about karma. Cut these people with your words and one day you will cut yourself. It may be a day when an old post is exhumed and you are called to account. It may be a day when you get “cancelled” and your tongue has no relevance anymore. Or, more than likely, someone with a sharper razor shreds your perfectly curated identity and the curtain that hides your real world. We see it all the time. In the end, if you put razors in your mouth instead of food, you will spit blood.