on damage

I told a friend of mine that it sounded like his experiences with men had damaged him, and he took exception to my choice of words. Given the definition of "damage" below, he has a right to complain:

1. Harm or injury to property or a person, resulting in loss of value or the impairment of usefulness.
2. damages Law. Money ordered to be paid as compensation for injury or loss.
3. Informal. Cost; price.

Definition 1 is most applicable given the context, but I certainly didn't mean that he was less valuable or useful. I was aiming for something along the lines of "wisdom and pain borne of experience." As far as I can tell, I adopted the poetic meaning from a Dandy Warhols' song, Plan A:

Must be some kind of planet
For all the people who can manage.
All of us who can handle it,
With all of this damage.

It's not a profound song, in fact the rest of the lyrics are mostly a nonsense refrain. But managing with damage stuck with me as a noble concept.

People who are all sweetness and light drive me nuts, and it shows in my friends, many of whom are described as "old souls." There's nothing attractive in masochism, but it's damned hard to get your ass kicked by the world, learn from it, and keep coping.

So, here's to damage, and the death of naivete.