Guilty as charged! --- Just this morning, I experienced an example of this method of indirect criticism (shall we coin it 'criticism by proxy'). My passenger said: "I always hate it when my husband forgets to slow down on this section of road." I checked my speedometer and sure enough, I had failed to slow down by the required 10mph!

Interestingly, depending on the closeness of your relationship, this face-saving measure can prove offensive to those who are very close, who find the use of a distancing device potentially alienating.

Source author: Biljana Scott biscott@diplomacy.edu