My friend's "honest" feedback habit is just mean with extra steps

Had a buddy who prided himself on brutal honesty. Told me my new haircut made me look like a stressed hedgehog, laughed, said he was just keeping it real. Then last Thursday he used the same excuse to trash my sister's cooking in front of her kids. There's a line between honest and using honesty as a license to be a jerk. Anyone else know someone who hides rudeness behind that label, and how do you call it out without becoming the bad guy?

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robertgreen24d ago

Dealt with this exact thing before. Next time he pulls the "just being honest" card, ask him flat out if the goal was to help or just to get a laugh, because feedback nobody asked for is just being a jerk with a good excuse. Calling it out in the moment works way better than letting it slide and stewing about it later.

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