Difficult People

I’ve come to realize that (although I’m SO ready to get out of the work-world and into the homemaker world) one of my key roles as a mommy is going to be teaching my children how to deal with awful people and still enjoy life. And the work-world is a place where I’m learning that lesson every day.


It’s not that I work with an office full of scum-bags, let me assure you that’s not the case. But there are those people… those people that just grate on your nerves. They don’t grate on everyone’s nerves (in most cases) just on your particular set of nerves. We’ve all known people like that. In high school for me it was a girl named Stephanie. Everything she said or did made me cringe. In college it was a co-worker at one of my part-time jobs. With every comment, suggestion, or question she communicated the same thing to me, “I know what I’m doing and you don’t.” It killed me. And then there was teaching… and now managing an office. And it seems no matter where I’ve ended up, there have been one, or two, or three people who I just can’t stand to be around. They disagree with everything and everyone, or they are demeaning to those around them, or they always have a hidden agenda and are only nice when they need something from you, or they are lazy… or they are all of the above!

I’m curious how all of you handle people like that.

I tend toward the anti-confrontational side of things. I do my best to at least seem like I’m friends with everyone, and not to gossip and/or vent about them to others (but don’t do that great of a job.) And I straddle the fence between letting myself get walked over and saying just enough to demand respect without ever saying so much that I’m in an awkward conversation.  A favorite tactic of mine is to pick up the phone right as that person is walking by and either make or pretend to be making a phone call.  That one works quite nicely.

To be truthful, sometimes I envy the very people I’m complaining about. They say exactly what’s on their mind to whomever’s bothering them… and you know what? People get outta their way.

How do I want to teach my kids to handle difficult people in their schools, workplaces, and just daily life? Obviously I don’t want to teach them to spend their days wishing they could just be at home all day where they’d never have to encounter these individuals (sadly, that’s exactly how I handle it myself.) No, what they, what I need… is to learn to love daily life even with these people in it. I need to learn the healthiest possible way to respond so that I feel like I’m being true to myself and true to God and real with these people.

What’s answer? This is a tough one for me.

How do YOU respond to people who grate on your nerves? Do you say exactly what you’re thinking? Do you tell em’ where they can go? Do you get walked over? Do you straddle the fence like me?