I’m stubborn. I’m sorry.

I’m stubborn. I’m sorry.

I’m not apologizing for what I am, because, strange as it is, I think I need to be stubborn to be a better person. You know that guy who never gets angry? Ever thought that maybe you’d really regret it if he got angry?

Where is this coming from? Well, I was recently blasted to oblivion about being irritating. Now, anyone who knows me knows few people can actually bother/dare to take me on face to face. I guess that explains the rumours and third party information which I tend to eventually hear about myself. And I never engage in verbal violence or even heated conversations to the point where expletives are used. It solves nothing,.......and I might shrub if I speak while agitated. I was given a thorough verbal lambasting.

Anyway, the blast got to me. And it got me thinking, maybe I should change my ways. The reflection was short lived when I realized that, while I’m not perfect and have a lot to learn in managing people, the problem in this case was not me, or, to be humble, not just me.

Find the most irritating, stupid or even downright evil person in the world and see if people around him are constantly on his case about his vice. Human beings have this remarkable ability to put up or get out and after a while, they do find a sort of balance with those around them. It’s third parties who cause sparks as they strive to find this balance.

My point is this, for someone I’ve known for this long to suddenly blast me about my personality (which has so far remained constant), it must be something that they are dealing with rather than an independent completely new reaction to an already established behavior.

To put it in fewer words, I was subjected to verbal spanking from someone who was obviously going through some emotional turmoil. Maybe I should pity them. Or maybe I should just give my default reaction to human tantrum, subject it to a severe dose of indifference. The latter always works to restore the balance or establish a whole new balance. The former is quite humanitarian, and as you all know, I’m the last person to be accused of that.

Let’s assume for one second that the outburst was not a childish tantrum. This would automatically lead to the conclusion that it was orchestrated deliberately to test my reaction. And we all know that we’re required to put your best foot forward in a test, pretense is tantamount to cheating.

This is my reaction – indifference. Please stew in your own soup until soft, add salt and bitterness to taste, and garnish with lemons. That’s the recipe I recommend.

So it seems this month I get to practice indifference where my base instincts would have proposed a more emotional response. And not just for this case, but in the case of the one person who single handedly inadvertently inspired the start of this blog last year.

I wonder if I’d be less cryptic if I didn’t know people who know me read this blog. I'm grateful to the one person who has confirmed his appreciation of this blog. Or is he, typically, being nice? :-)

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