Does it really matter, in the long run?

Does it really matter what people say about you, if you don't know them? I mean really, in the long run, if you don't have to deal with these people on a daily basis, if they are never going to be in your life, do their words have power to hurt you? I've been thinking about this for the last couple of days and have come to the conclusion that if someone I don't know calls me names, makes fun of me, or generally thinks I'm an idiot, big fucking deal. I don't know them, their opinion is just that, an opinion (opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and they all stink). I have no time, emotion, or anything else invested in people I don't know, so why should I care what they think?

I know who I am, where I've come from/where I've been, what I've been through in my life, and what experiences have made me the person I am, and I certainly know whether I'm a worthwhile person or not. If they get their jollies by making fun of me, then they are certainly hard up for entertainment if that's the best they can do. The only people who have power to hurt me are the ones I care about, and if those people I care about love me, they aren't going to hurt me (which is why I stay away from abusive family members).

So when I'm out in the yard with DH when he's doing yard work, and kids ride/skate/walk by and call me names (which doesn't happen very often at all), I don't care. I don't know them, I don't have any interest in knowing them, and I'm not going to be dealing with them on a daily basis, so their words mean nothing to me. All they do is show their ignorance and intolerance for someone who is different from them. If someone drove by me in a car and called me names, same thing goes for them. I'm not going to react, I'm going to ignore them, because they don't mean shit to me.

I refuse to give that kind of power to total strangers. Of course, I've always felt like an outcast/misfit, so people's opinions of me have never mattered all that much.