Difficult People

Face it, they will always exist.

Several years ago, I worked in a commercial print shop, and one week went from bad to worse: overlapping deadlines, problems with presses, lack of darkroom supplies and an absentee boss. And worse, a job bounced, which means, the customer rejected it: Profit gone. There were some angry words as the blame was passed around, But this time, it was the boss who screwed up, he knew it, and he was loudly sharing his misery with all his staff. Yeah.

But on the way home, I found a speaker on the radio who was so funny, so dead on true, I nearly drove off the road! She was talking about problem people, and the fact that “There will always be problem people in your life: be it your father, a brother, neighbor, co-worker, anyone.”

“But remember, YOU may be the problem person in someone else’s life!”

I laughed so hard, I had to pull over. Because that day, my boss was not happy with me, I would not back down, and for sure, he absolutely considered me his problem person of the week!

Face it people, it is so true! We complain about the idiots in our lives, whose names will always change, but they are there lurking, ready to strike. But confess, we have our moments when we give others a hard time, deserved or not. Hopefully, they are rare and apologies are gracefully given.

And if you think none of this applies to you, ever, then perhaps you are not paying enough attention to the people behind you. Ya know, kinda like that reckless driver racing up the highway, cutting in and out of lanes, not caring about the swerving, brake slamming and near crashes in their rear view mirror.

Sometimes we all need a reality/attitude check, of course, the author is the exception. Sigh, I wish, I have a few tenants that keep me humble.