Hey Gary, thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts on my piece. The description of the man at the beginning was supposed to represent Socrates — he was apparently not the most attractive man and I wanted to make the opening line pretty engaging, which is why I asked for people to imagine a scenario that they would find discomforting.

I get where you’re coming from and I could see that maybe I lacked empathy. There was, however, no intention of offending anyone or putting anyone down based on their physical attributes. I didn’t think that was the most important part to focus on in the article — the point of my story was to share what Socrates taught about wisdom. I definitely could have put more thought into my opening or started it some other way, but overall I believe that censoring the creative spirit for the sake of not risking to offend anyone will not allow me to produce what feels natural to me. If you read my other works you might not have misinterpreted my words in this way, but I understand your compassionate perspective since this is the first time you’re coming across one of my works and figuring out who I am as a person.

That being said, I’m glad you pointed it out. Comments like yours help me think about the things I still have to work on as an individual and as a storyteller. Thanks again for reading Gary!