Listening to my brother use "um" and "like" crutches, I now prefer my stutter to his quick 'cure'.
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Listening to my brother use "um" and "like" crutches, I now prefer my stutter to his quick 'cure'. My stutter is hereditary. My brothers both stutter and my dad stuttered, his dad stuttered, so on and so forth. So a couple years back, my big brother (32) tells me he doesn't stutter anymore, he's successfully cured it. Amazing! He can now talk on phones, even. He just got a job at a phone support call center. I can't even fathom that. He's been a bit superior about it, because I've blown off all his 'quick tricks' that have never done a thing for me personally, so he gloats about his fluency sometimes in comparison to mine, which... I have a pretty severe stutter. The thing is, though, he is still a stutterer. And it is *bad*. Instead of repetitions, whenever he feels a block coming, he'll throw in an "um" or a "like" or an "actually". It is hard to listen to. He sounds like a moron. "Yeah I was um, like, actually at the store. Actually, we got, like, some gas and like, like, like, um, it was actually pretty cheap this month." I mean... it works for him, and he's finding some measure of success, so good for him. I'd never point out that his stutter is obviously still present. Wouldn't do us any good. But if I'm being honest, I'll take my repetitions and elongations, any day. He comes off as utterly air-headed. At least the thoughts I'm trying to express are genuine and serve a purpose. At least when I stutter, people know I'm being held back by something I can't help, as opposed to them believing I really feel 20 'like's, 'um's, and 'actually's are necessary to convey. I don't think the lack of repetition is worth losing your message in a sludgy barrage of the same 3 transition words. Because of that, I've made it a point to not avoid stuttering, but instead to stutter gracefully and productively. I think that was a big part of how I've come to appreciate my stutter, and think of it as a part of myself that isn't worthy of hate, resentment, or avoidance. Because those can turn a stutter so ugly. I guess this is also a reminder that those little crutchy transition words can certainly add up and become a detriment on-par with actual stuttering.