mini-rant and rash generalization
here is a little fact about myself: i am not a very sympathetic person. i definitely express sympathy when the drama at hand is undeserved or unintentional, or just generally out of the control of the person experiencing it. i am NOT however, sympathetic when the person has made poor choices and CHOSEN drama. one can make excuses all day for people who never learned better than not to choose drama, and under certain circumstances, i might buy that, but in general, if you act unwisely, and then things blow up in your face, then stop whining.
this logic basically applies to any situation which is the result of your own poor decisions. (unwanted children because you didn't use birth control, unwanted politicians when you didn't feel the need to vote, coffee that you think is too strong when you have been warned "hey, this coffee is really strong", heartburn from spicy food, clothes that don't fit due to donuts, bills that cannot be paid because you keep purchasing pets, ...the list is endless.
i have asked my boss to make sure he doesn't allow me to complain about things that were my own choice. sometimes life just throws things at us that have nothing to do with wisdom or choices, like deaths in the family, car accidents, or allergies.
here is my rash generalization: it seems to be that most people with the 'gift of sympathy' are sympathetic because they too are dumb-asses allowing them to have sympathy for others, because they want special priviledges for themselves. those of us who are self-sufficient tend to be less tollerant of slack-asses lack of responsibility. maybe i am wrong, but when i think through those with 'sympathy' and those with 'responsibility', they tend to fall into different columns without much overlap.
- one of my co-workers whines all the time about different physical pains. "oh my kidneys hurt." "oh my stomach is upset" "I have a head ache" "my knees ache" -- ok, here is a thought, if you weren't 100 pounds over-weight and didn't eat a pound of pork (in the form of bacon or sausage) most mornings for breakfast, you might not have such pains. if you EVER exercised, or stopped smoking, etc....those things might help to. Until you start caring for your body, I don't want to hear your bitching and moaning. it falls in roughly the same category as complaining about a hang over which is the "too fucking bad" category! you made a poor choice, now you are paying for it.
- if you have a crap-load of work on your desk, and you absolutely cannot stay late to finish it, then use your time at work wisely. don't be a chatty cathy then complain about how much work you have to do.
- if you chose to get married and have 4 kids, don't complain about having to support them. after the first child, you should pretty much have figured your part in the creative process!
- if you run a property management company, and you have a tenant with "some kind of problem" and you don't find out for us what the problem is, and you just want us to show up and magically make everything ok, and we find upon arriving that special tools/materials are needed and have to go purchase/pick up said equipmen - you will be charged for the time it takes the technician to do WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE before you called us -- primarily to ascertain WHAT IT IS that you want done. Had you had your information together, correct contact phone numbers, etc. before calling in instead of expecting us to be your secretaries, then you wouldn't be charged so much.
- if you have had the luxury of driving a company work van/truck for years, and the company you work for gets audited and the IRS says that you have to start declaring mileage from home to the shop and vice versa as income (at 15 cents per mile) and you want to whine and complain about it when all of the rest of the working world has to 1.) buy a vehicle 2.) pay for insurance 3.) pay for gas and you only have to pay approx. $30.00/2,000 miles.....there aren't cuss word sufficient for how I feel about that!
- (sub point)...if you live 45 miles from the office, that is not my fault, nor the office's fault nor the fault of the IRS.
- if you decide that you do not want to drive your car into work, but would rather call your boss to come pick you up, and he does so, but then leaves the office for meetings, and you have no vehicle and you cannot leave the office for lunch....i don't want to hear about it. You should have driven your lazy ass into work yourself. and no, I won't pick up cigarettes for you!
this logic basically applies to any situation which is the result of your own poor decisions. (unwanted children because you didn't use birth control, unwanted politicians when you didn't feel the need to vote, coffee that you think is too strong when you have been warned "hey, this coffee is really strong", heartburn from spicy food, clothes that don't fit due to donuts, bills that cannot be paid because you keep purchasing pets, ...the list is endless.
i have asked my boss to make sure he doesn't allow me to complain about things that were my own choice. sometimes life just throws things at us that have nothing to do with wisdom or choices, like deaths in the family, car accidents, or allergies.
here is my rash generalization: it seems to be that most people with the 'gift of sympathy' are sympathetic because they too are dumb-asses allowing them to have sympathy for others, because they want special priviledges for themselves. those of us who are self-sufficient tend to be less tollerant of slack-asses lack of responsibility. maybe i am wrong, but when i think through those with 'sympathy' and those with 'responsibility', they tend to fall into different columns without much overlap.