Lover or Villan

A friend, we'll call her Robin (as if that somehow will make her beyond detection), said, "You know you can say anything about anyone as long as it's followed by, 'Bless his heart.'  You know like, 'He did the dumbest thing, bless his heart.'  or, 'She's a homely girl, bless her heart."  Okay, if you don't live in Texas, it's a bit peculiar to say, but put a little twang in your mode of talking and before you know it you're free to say anything you like and you'll still be considered the sweetest person around.  (Of course it's all the more convincing that it's genuine if you have a big round hair-do.)  It's truly brilliant, a little addition to anything you want to vent about anyone, including the person right in front of you, and voila! You have personal teflon; no one can get mad at you for saying it, because it must've been out of love, you blessed their heart!  So in essence we get our childhood wish, 'I'm rubber and your glue and anything you say bounces off of me and sticks to you.'

Okay so, my husband (and of course if I don't mention him by name, I can share the story without reservation) said, "Have you ever noticed that every time anyone's miffed at someone else they say,'I love you to death but,...'  Is that a Freudian slip?"

So in summary, context is everything.  But don't think too deeply about this, I'm sure I'll say, "I love you to death, bless your heart,..."   Don't read into it; I'm not bright enough to have come up with these observations on my own! Perhaps Robin and Andy came up with these thoughts after hearing me?  or then again, maybe I'm not as sweet as you thought I was.  MUWHAHAHAHA...