"our hands are tied"

trite phrases. what to do with them? a woman's voice gets a little flustered on the other end of the line.

"we can't do that because we don't know if you're who you say you are."

"oh." my voice is dumbfounded because i thought there were ways to prove your identity over the phone, by giving little treasures of information out, piece by precious piece.

that's when her voice peaks, as if my simple puff of a word is an accusation. which it's not.

"well there's just nothing we can do about the situation. our hands are tied."

and i'm thinking, what does it really mean -- to have one's hands tied. how many of us have ever had our hands truly tied in our pasts? not of our own free wills, of course.

and then for a second i'm having visions in my head of struggling. my hands and feet are bound tight and my muscles hurt from trying to wriggle loose. i'm exhausted. i'm gagged. i'm panicking and crying, not so much from my pain but from my confusion. what's going on?

back in real life, i'm still on the phone, and the lady sounds somewhat panicked. maybe she does recognize the meaning of what she's saying. or, my guess is that she's hiding behind a phrase she's heard and used a million times before, but has never stopped to think about.

flippant. frivolous. afraid.

people should own their words.

it just kills me when they don't.