This afternoon, I made a cynical comment to a colleague that he interpreted as xenophobic, which prompted him to immediately criticize me harshly.

Damn, I felt bad after that. I deserved that. My comment was insensitive and offensive, but I noticed that too late.

Later, I stopped him on the way home and asked to talk about what happened, so I could explain what I meant and why it was a stupid comment that seemed really insensitive and potentially racist to someone without any context.
I learned my lesson.

Something like that didn't happen to me in a very long while. I'll definitely remember this shitty feeling of shame for a while.

And I don't get how some people actually say racist and xenophobic stuff and feel good about it... I really don't understand. These people must have no shame. I wanted to sink into the ground after that fuck-up.

But I'm glad that my colleagues are aware enough to question what I was saying, and I'm grateful that he criticized me, even though it felt bad. I would never want to end up like some boomer asshole at one point in life 🙈