A couple of years ago I worked with someone who went out of her way to be unpleasant to me. No, it wasn't my imagination... I had co-workers remark on how she was going out of her way to be unpleasant to me. I'm not quite sure what her issue was... I was always pleasant to her and always managed to avert the disasters caused by the fact that she always left EVERYTHING until the last possible second and then decided to invite everyone to the drama (again, this was a much discussed topic amongst the office staff, so this isn't just MY perception of the situation). On the day I left that job, she was walking into the office as I was leaving. She smirked at me and said "Yeah, well, ummm, have a nice life" and I looked her dead in the eye and said "I am so glad I don't have to get up every morning and be you" and walked out of the office. I found out later that she asked the one co-worker I had been close to "what did she mean by that" and my co-worker said "I don't know, TAP, what does that mean to you?" If you find yourself wondering what I meant by it, I'll tell you what I was thinking at the time... I may have been someone who just lost their job and didn't know how they were going to face their family and didn't know how I was going to keep a roof over my head or food on the table and I was afraid and dissapointed and feeling pretty low, but at least I didn't have to live with being someone who seems to radiate hatred to people who have done nothing to deserve it. I am not someone who is so self-centered that I get annoyed when everyone doesn't kiss my ass and feel blessed to be in my presence. I think about how what I say and do is going to effect other people. I am a genuinely kind and loving person who will help people out even when there is nothing in it for me except the joy of knowing I did something nice for someone else. I suppose you could tell me that it was an awful, unkind, maybe even hateful thing to say to her. And there is some truth to that, but it took six months of being treated VERY badly by this person for me to utter that one simple sentence. And what I really wanted to do was make her think about who she was and how she behaved.
Honestly, though, I look for the good in everyone. For better or for worse (and way too often, I get burned by this) I really want to believe that people are inherently good. There are very few people I can say I hate (the "dislike" list is a bit longer!) There are people I know only from the Internet who I'd put my life on the line for and people I've met face-to-face who I wouldn't piss on if they were on fire. And it may be wrong, but there are a few people who I'd like to have the opportunity to look in the eye and say "I am so glad I don't have to get up every morning and be you". Fortunately, though, the majority of the people I encounter are delightful or at least pleasant. There are several people who I admire and who it would be an honor to wake up in the morning and be them... but then, we all have our issues and things we deal with so it's probably best that we do our best to be pleased to wake up in the morning and be ourselves. The past couple of weeks has shown me that even after a good, hard look at myself, I'm not disappointed to get up in the morning and be me.
