This Is As Good As It Gets
Irritating people are really just doing the best they can.
We have all seen our share of irritating people. We might have an annoying relative, an overbearing neighbor, or maybe we work in customer service and a customer got under our skin. They’re out there. They’re not going away anytime soon. There will always be irritating people.
They hardly seem to know what they’re doing when they irritate us. Only the cream of the crop will ever bother to ask if they got my goat. Most are blithely unaware of my disposition upon their offenses. They know nothing of my preferences, my delights, or my tolerances. I consider irritating people to be innocent because they are doing the best they can. They honestly have no idea that they could even do better. If they did know they could do better, they would.
I used to have irritating friends. I’ve had friends borrow money never to return it. I’ve had friends show up chronically late to the theater, lunch or other shared activities. I’ve had friends who insulted me to my face like they were enjoying a hobby. And I’ve had friends who broke my stuff. I didn’t know it then, but they were doing the absolute best they could. I am no longer friends with those people, for it is not my business to change them.
