really, no one should get empathy. but especially people who blame it on being drunk, because you know good and well that they really believe that....but are too timid and weak to show that opinion in any other venue.

1. Possibly.

2. Depends on what you mean by "slip."

The song lyric example is a genuine slip in my book, and one that wouldn't change my relationship with that person. When you hear a song a million times on the radio, you memorize it automatically, and it's truly possible to sing along too closely when you aren't paying attention.

If by slip you mean that the person actually referred to someone as a "____," that's a whole different story. All slurs are not created equal, and there are some that simply do not belong in a thinking person's vocabulary. About ten years ago, a security guard at my workplace asked me, giggling, "Did you see those two fags?" I heard that and concluded that she was a fool.

When I hear someone say, "That's so gay," (and they mean that it's stupid, not that it's actually gay), I don't think, "This person is filled with hate," but I do think, "This person is pretty ignorant."

Mom got upset the first time I used Bitchin.

Meaning it is cool or good.