Speaking plainly

I'm often aware that my posts here can be rather verbose. Yet I realise that I have written frequently about the importance of plainness and its significance for me of clarity. Clear thinking, clear speech, to the point, this of course is the way to make people hate you.
And you know what, it feels good. One of the interesting things to have come out of my recent spot of bother at work was to have the human resources manager comment that she expected I was pleased to be getting things sorted out ; I don't think she expected it to make me resolve to be even more forthright. I waltzed into work yesterday, flung open the office door and wished Zippy,  my 'manager', happy new year at the top of my voice.
Because I no longer care. I will no longer play happy families (at least I will change the rules to suit me). I have decided what is important and will go straight to it. This is the real virtue of plainness: it is an affront to the world of pretence and facades. It is the embodiment of the child commenting that the emperor is naked. And when you are free from the people who are busy pretending he's clothed, it frees you to see things with a new clarity.
I don't want to be liked by these people. If they actively hate me, then I can be fairly sure I'm doing the right thing. Clarity of thinking which causes scandal,  another aspect of the witch figure.
Not like Zippy. She's so muddled that she looked daggers at me when I wished her a happy new year. Of course we both know it was completely insincere, but I'm secure in the knowledge that I can both hate the bitch and play her game of playing nicely because it is necessary to leave her disempowered. She is so unclear in her thinking that she later felt she had to send me an email wishing me a happy new year!