People Annoying People

Let me start by saying that I don’t have a good sense of how old I am. I rarely can answer the question about my chronological age without thinking about it and doing some arithmetic. Mentally/emotionally I think that I’m pretty darn immature often … just ask my offspring! I am painfully aware of my shortcomings, which would fill a notebook. I have tried to better myself and learn from my mistakes.

I have tried to keep my mouth shut and not respond too quickly (speaking before thinking!). I’ve had some success, but still manage to pull some doozies (to the amusement of those around me, I think).

I noticed some time ago that I tend to play the devil’s advocate. There have been plenty of bestselling books or blockbuster movies that I never read or saw just out of orneriness or a desire to not be one of the lemmings.

Part of this devil’s advocate-ness is my tendency to act and think the opposite of those around me when they are displaying traits that I’m annoyed with or alarmed by. For example, when my Nod freaks about some minor emergency (we’ve not had any major ones at home), then I’m ultra-calm.

So this has definite benefits.

I don’t know what fuels this behavior, but it has helped me to see how, to put it bluntly, stupid people can act. Not that these people are dumb, mind you, but they do act dumb.

I really, really enjoy my new job. Great people to work with. However… (you knew it was coming, didn’t you?) the newest associate here (yea, I’m not THE newbie anymore) is driving me a little nuts. I can sympathize only so much before the umpteenth “I’m sorry” or “can you tell that I’m new?” or “I’m bored!” sets my teeth to grinding.

Hey, I just went thru all this stuff for the first time, so I know what she’s up against. I guess if Newbie was twenty years my junior, then I wouldn’t be so negative in my attitude. However, this gal is five years older than I am. And I guess that perhaps I’m unfairly irritated that she lives nearby and many of our customers know her - which leads to another annoyance: she gets really chatty with some of them and the rest of us will take up the slack. And ya know how it is when something about someone bugs ya … you find more things about them that are irritating, too. She has three sons, teen to 30s, and she thinks that girlfriends and wives are the bane of her existence. Excuse me, but it takes two to tango, eh?

... I just re-read this. boy, ain't I the bitch?