Chris McCausland: What is the harshest thing anyone has said to you?

The question

What is the harshest thing anyone has said to you?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

A fixed Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

I was thrown out of a club by bouncers when I walked into somebody and told them that I was registered blind. They said: “Don’t give a fuck – you don’t belong in here.” As a straight white man, it gives you a taste of what other people have to contend with.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 November 2025 source ↗

Others on this question

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Stephen K Amos

“Do you know what your problem is?” It was a dear friend of mine. They were referring to the fact that I’m impatient.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 September 2025 source ↗

Mark Radcliffe

This was said about me in a Radio 1 focus group: “I don’t pay my licence fee to hear scummy northerners.”

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 August 2025 source ↗

Kevin Rowland British singer

My dad said, “You’re going nowhere.” I was seven or eight.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 August 2025 source ↗

Nikki Amuka-Bird

In a rehearsal just after graduating from drama college, I say my lines to an older actor. He pauses, turns to the director and says: “I’m sorry, but is she going to do it like that?”

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 May 2025 source ↗