I am a bitch

And I don't know what to do about it. I don't even know when I'm doing it. My friends assure me that they don't notice it, but if they thought about it, about the very first time they met me, what I said in front of them, how I said it, I'm sure they'd remember that I am a bitch, it's just that after you get to know me, you don't notice it. My family has no problem reminding me that I tend to come across too strong.

And there's another thing. My entire life, my parents have told me how to deal with my siblings. "Well, that's just the way she is, and you have to..." "When he gets like that you need to..." I'll tell you something right now. The reason why they told me how to change and accomodate their personalities is because I can change. Do you think they ever went to her and said, "Jackie just does that. And when she does, you need to do this to keep things calm." No. Because she's got too strong a personality, and she's not about to change.

I fought with her, and during it, I'm noticing, she's the one raising her voice and freaking out. She's twisting my words, shoving fallacies down my throat, and trying to discredit me in order to win. And then when we get home, she brings Mom into it, even though I thought we'd agreed to disagree, but no, apparently she can't settle for a draw. And then Mom is reading into the conversation and taking her side, even though the first thing Mom did was agree with me on the argument. "She's the one freaking out," I say. "Well, you do tend to not pay attention to your tone." "Yeah, it was your tone, I was reacting to your tone." She didn't even think about that until Mom told her. She'd been misrepresenting me in the review of the conversation before that. "She was screaming, 'you're offending me, and my God.'" Which I absolutely did not say.

My tone. Like you can watch your tone. You can watch your volume. But when you're talking, you just say it. Actors sometimes can't use a certain tone even if they're coached on it and told to do it. And I'm supposed to make sure that no one gets put off by my tone. And I don't know when I'm doing it. Like sometimes I think I might have been bitchy, and so I obsess over it, but then there's the little doubt, that maybe I didn't, and I'm obsessing for nothing. Is anyone ever going to walk up to someone I just met and say, "Don't worry about it, that's just the way Jackie is. Once you get to know her, you totally get used to it." No.

Is this keeping people from liking me? No one's asked me on a date in five years. But plenty of guys like me. I swore to myself that I wouldn't pursue guys, but if I lowered myself, I'd go out. Are they afraid to appoach the bitch? Or am I just vain and I think they like me? Is my bitchiness keeping me from making friends? Is this something I need to get rid of in order to be happy, or is this something I need to accept about myself, and screw anyone, including my family, who can't deal with it?