Just Say Yes

Daily writing prompt

What is a word you feel that too many people use?

Yes.

It’s a word that feels safe. It’s a word that when we’re pressured might seem like a way out. We use it to please. We use it to placate. We use it to avoid confrontation. We use it when we really want to say no but our fear speaks for us instead. Boundaries are rarely set with a yes. Generosity comes from a place where we can comfortably say no.

We answer the telephone with it so often that thieves grab the sound of our saying it and spend it for their benefit. We use it as a question. We use it as a warning that an interruption had better be worth it. We sign contracts with it. It has been given the power to seal a lifetime and yet we toss it around like confetti.

When the devil asks for a soul, that signature on the dotted line is a yes. The same with the car loan that looks like a house payment and the new mattress that costs as much as a month’s rent. When the dealer asks if we would like another card? There’s already 2 Queens in front of us on the table. Yes is not always the best answer.

4 responses to “Just Say Yes”

Bob Lynn

August 14, 2025 at 8:52 am

Your analysis cuts straight to the heart of why “yes” has become such a problematic word in modern life. The way you describe it as safe yet deceptive perfectly captures how it can become an emotional crutch. Your observation about boundaries is particularly striking – true generosity indeed requires the capacity to decline. The parallel between predatory telemarketers exploiting our recorded “yes” responses and our broader tendency to overcommit shows how this simple word can trap us both literally and metaphysically.

1. S.Bechtold
  
  August 20, 2025 at 6:03 pm
  
  Your comments are so satisfying, they’re akin to getting a thoughtful comment from the professor. Thank you.
  
Elle Starling

August 18, 2025 at 8:21 am

” we use it as a question” hit hard, it feels so trapping when someone asks something and ends it with ” yes?” Instead of ” right?” Or ” okay?” Or anything else. This made me think about how accusatory it feels too, like there’s no choice and the person positing has the control and already determined your fate and your input doesn’t actually matter. No is almost treated as a curse word nowadays, like saying no is the worst betrayal you could ever commit.

1. S.Bechtold
  
  August 20, 2025 at 6:01 pm
  
  Egads I really don’t like that coercive yes one bit. I worked in commission sales for a short while and hated the manipulation used to get a sale. I like the word no. I keep practicing it like a 2 year old.