Being Right If you go to great lengths to prove that you're right or to avoid the suggestion that you're wrong including lying, shouting, twisting the facts, changing the subject, making excuses, and accusing then you're not listening. For example, when ten-year-old Tonja said she thought it was mean of her mom not to let her watch the end of the movie, her mother responded, "That's not mean. Besides, you already watched most of it. Anyway, you're obviously cranky today, so I probably shouldn't even have let you stay up and watch as much as you did.