What Bothers You?

I am bound and determined to make a post that has nothing to do with hurricanes. So here it goes. I find getting older interesting, particularly when it comes to what bothers me. It seems that some things that never bothered me really bother me now. For example, arrogant people get on my last nerve. I simply don’t have time for them. Once I get a whiff of their “all that and a bag of chips” attitude I check out mentality. Start talking about how great you are or how important you are and you can color me gone. I’ve found that people who act arrogant are actually very insecure about themselves. I realize that this is not the right attitude to have but I’m being very honest here.

I also don’t have any patience when it comes to ‘spin’. You know ‘spin’, the art of trying to make things seem better then what they really are. It’s when I know something to be one way but someone tells me not to believe my lying eyes and believe them. This really jerks my chain. Politicians, Hollywood, Public Relations firms, Madison Avenue, Lawyers and yes organized religion are notorious for churning out spin. The idea that I can’t make up my own mind based upon the facts is insulting. I don’t need anyone to decipher the truth for me, that’s why I’m married (kidding). Just be honest and give it to me straight. Don’t blow smoke up my butt and tell me it’s a cool breeze.

While I’m on roll, know what else ticks me off? Mean People. What is so hard about being nice once in awhile? I know at some point in time everyone has a bad day or gets pissed off but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about a day in and day out attitude of being a jerk – a conscious decision to be rude. What we're really talking about is a person who is unhappy. And because they are unhappy they want everyone around them to be unhappy too. So they spread their meanness around like manure and stink up the joint in the process. Just like the bumper sticker says ‘Mean People Suck’.

Now let me stop right here, get off my high horse and honestly admit that I’m a very flawed person. There is no doubt that I’ve been arrogant, mean and dished out spin. So quit rolling your eyes at me okay, you’re beginning to bother me. They are other things that bother me as well but I’ll stop my rant right here. What’s interesting is that when I was younger these things really didn’t bother me. Perhaps it was because I was “one of them”, an arrogant, mean-spirited spin doctor? That’s one theory; maybe it was because I simply never noticed. Could I have been so self absorbed with all that was going on in my life that I never paid attention? That’s possible too. But what I really think happened is that I simply ignored these things. You know an ‘Ignorance is Bliss’ kind of thing. Now as I get older I don’t have the patience to ignore them like I used to. I thought as you got older you were supposed to develop more patience. I find myself being challenged more and more by these kind of things. The issue is how do I react when I encounter these types of people and behaviour. What's the old saying "Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it". I believe that to be true.

You’re probably wondering ‘Gee Ron, who peed in your cereal bowl this morning?” Actually no one did…..today. About a month ago I had an interesting experience on a plane ride home from Missouri that really got to me. Since that time I haven’t been able to get it out of my head. I am going to try something a bit different here and put up a two part post about that experience and the lessons I learned from it. I’ll try to put the first post out sometime this weekend and the other early next week. You might be surprised by what happens, I know I certainly was. In the meantime, leave me a comment and let me know 'What Bothers You' as well (as long as it’s not me). I'll be interested in hearing what you have to say...