You want to know something I feel sort of sorry for? Too bad, I’m going to tell you anyway. It’s the letter T. It gets a raw deal many times.

Think about it. It has such a strong presence when it begins the word. Ton, two, twin, even words like “there” have the unmistakable T sound. Those two sounds can only be made by T. What happens when T appears in the middle, or at the end of a word. The sound becomes smaller, in some cases it can disappear. Say the number 20 to yourself. How does it come out. Most of the time, it sounds more like Twen-ty instead of Twen-Ty. I gloss over T a lot if it isn’t at the beginning of a word.

Listening to some people around me, T can be eliminated entirely. Button becomes “buh-en”. As important as T is (I’ve used it 68 times up to this point, not counting the stand-alone Ts), it is softened or ignored when it doesn’t hold a prominent position.

As silly as that may sound, I notice the same in my life. My “notice-ability” grows and shrinks based on where I stand. If I’m out in front, I know people are watching, and I change how I act. I become more formal because I don’t want people to think I’m an idiot. I can be myself more easily if people aren’t watching.

Holding my craziness to a minimum around others isn’t always a problem, but if I start being two-faced, it is a problem.

Not telling every pun that runs through my head is a nice thing to do for others. Pretending I’m a stronger Christian than I really am is flat out lying. I would do well watch who I follow. The letter T isn’t a very good role model.